Yes, I made a mistake last chapter. Yes, I've gone back and fixed it (I hope!). Sorry about that!

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. I still own no rights to Naruto or any other character therein.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Hiashi hadn't thought Anko to be serious about marrying him off. But after the past three days, he'd have to assume he'd been wrong.

The Hyuuga clan leader sighed as he looked down his dinner table. Every seat was filled. His servants were ecstatic as they buffed and polished everything each day in preparation for the 'fun' during the evening meal. He didn't like being the source of their, or Anko's entertainment, but he was refusing to throw out his 'guests'.

The reason he was putting up with it at all, was sitting at his right side.

"More soup, father?"

Hiashi looked down at his eager daughter and stifled a sigh. Hanabi was having fun at least. And he could tell, that unlike his servants or that dratted jounin, her fun wasn't at his expense. Hanabi really wanted to find him a wife. Whether it was to keep him out of her life, or to keep him from getting lonely, it didn't seem to matter anymore.

After that night when she'd come home looking so devastated, she'd moped. She'd moped all day long. Her training suffered. They all suffered. Her bad mood had cast a pall over the entire household. Well, except for the visiting Kazekage, who was looking just a tad too pleased with himself.

Hiashi hadn't been real clear about why Gaara was still in the Leaf village. Didn't the man have his own village to run? When he'd finally asked though, Gaara had informed him he planned on staying long enough for Kankuro and Temari to return. The red head didn't seem outwardly worried about his siblings, but Hiashi saw the vague worry behind his bland expressions, when Gaara hadn't known anyone was looking.

Since the Kazekage's worry mirrored his own, Hiashi understood perfectly.

"I make an excellent shark fin soup." A woman three chairs down on his left mentioned. She leaned forward with a soft smile on her actually lovely face.

Hiashi frowned. He had no memory of her name. He'd been introduced to all the ladies before dinner, and her name had something to do with trees. No, not trees ...nuts.

"I heard your husband was often at the apothecary's for stomach ailments." Cooed another woman in mock sympathy. "People are always begging me for my ozoni recipe."

The first woman frowned at the brunette. "Ah, but that's usually served only once a year, at New Years. And really, how hard is miso soup with rice cakes? My shark fin soup was my husband's favorite."

"Didn't he die of stomach cancer?" Another woman piped up with a poisonous smile. "Now, with this fall weather, I'd think a nice helping of vegetable soup in miso would be just the thing."

Hiashi kept a stoic face as he slowly ate his food. His excellently prepared food. By his excellent cook. These women were ...he sighed and glanced down at Hanabi. The young genin was smiling from ear to ear as she eyed each and every woman at the table speculatively.

Anko grinned at him from the other end of the table, and even raised her wine glass to him in a mock salute.

Hiashi held on to his composure and turned to a young widow on his right as she explained the intricacies of cooking tofu perfectly and how that translated into being the perfect political wife. He couldn't see the connection himself, but let her drone on and on about it. At least she drowned out the other voices at the table.

o.O.o.O.o.O

"As a honeymoon, this sucks." Kankuro groaned, rolling onto his back.

Hinata sighed unhappily, feeling like she'd let him down somehow. "Please don't pout. I just can't ...not ...not ...not with people knowing what we're doing in here."

"I don't pout." Kankuro fumed, pouting. He sighed and leaned up on one elbow to stare down at her in the dark. "Alright. I understand the night in the brothel, why you couldn't then. The walls were too thin and the floor wasn't exactly comfortable."

His purple-haired wife nodded and stared up at him with her wide, pale-lilac eyes.

"Then, that next inn, well ...maybe I even understand what with those leering guys who were hassling you in the dining room. I still think you should have let me kill them, or at least hurt them enough so they'd sleep through the night."

Hinata blushed. "They were just young and stupid."

"Drunk." Kankuro stated baldly. "They were young, stupid, and stinking drunk. But Bright Eyes, what's wrong with tonight? We're not in a brothel. The walls appear solid enough. There's no drunk boys banging on your door. And pumpkin, you look delicious to me."

Hinata's blush intensified. "But they'll know!"

The puppeteer sighed and ran one hand wearily over his face. "We're talking about Shino and Kiba, am I right?" She didn't respond, but her face went even hotter. Kankuro sighed heavily. "You're married. To me. We're not only allowed to have sex, we're highly encouraged to do so. It's expected."

"Stop that!" Hinata hissed as she pushed his hand off her breast. Again. "It's embarrassing! They look at me, and they KNOW!"

Kankuro frowned down at his beautiful wife, trying hard to hold on to his patience. "Kiba has been nothing but nice and hell, if Shino looked at you how could you even tell? I mean, c'mon! Those dark glasses? How do you know he's even looked at you at all?"

Hinata suddenly sat up. "Oh! I forgot to give Temari that lotion I promised to let her try." She started to climb out of bed.

"You don't need to run from me, I'm not going to attack you know." Grumbled Kankuro sullenly.

Appalled, Hinata turned and grabbed his arm. "No, no that's not right. Temari got a rash on her knee from those scrub bushes we pushed through earlier. She was complaining that her usual ointment wasn't working and I told her I had this lotion with aloe in it that might ..."

"Fine." Kankuro interrupted, then sighed. "I'll take it to her."

Hinata chewed her bottom lip uncertainly, then tried to tease him. Hoping it would lighten his mood. "You don't need to run from me, I'm not going to attack you know."

A snort escaped the puppeteer as he rummaged through her small medicine kit. "That's the problem. I'd be much happier if you did attack me. My skin is distressingly bite mark and scratch free." With that, he held up the tube of ointment and headed for the door as Hinata blushed beet red.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Yugao walked into her house to hear her grandmother laughing heartily over something. Curious she peeked inside to see two of her former ANBU compatriots sipping tea with Hisako. She grinned. Diaki and Isamu always made her grandmother feel special the way they doted on the older woman.

"She walks in light while darkness shackles me, holding me from the heaven that lies within her soul." Diaki crooned with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Hisako cackled happily and clapped her hands in appreciation.

"Don't encourage him!" Yugao protested loudly as she entered the room. "He's been quoting the most horrendous poetry for the last week. I think he's in love."

Isamu choked on his laughter as he turned away. He coughed a few times before looking back at her. "No, he's just found this new author that he adores. That's all. Can't a fellow develop an interest in poetry without being in love?"

Yugao grinned and shook her head at their antics. "Not Diaki, and not you either. You've always liked the classics, but this ...drivel you're spouting is something else entirely."

For some reason, that sent all three of them into gales of laughter. Yugao sighed as she waited for them to calm down.

Finally, Diaki wound down and looked at her calmly before quoting again. "Her stern countenance and steel spine are a facade to keep others at bay. Yet her cool demeanor hides a tender spirit and soft touch which I long for each day."

Yugao sighed in disgust as all three dissolved once more into helpless laughter and glee.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Hiashi was hiding in his study when Anko found him. He watched her balefully as she slid inside and closed the door firmly behind her. "You're not here to drag me back out there are you? Because, if you are, there's going to be one hell of a fight and one of us might end up dead."

"Bah, Bait. I can't kill you and leave poor suffering Hanabi an orphan." Anko said, giving him a sloe eyed look as she leaned back on the door. She shuddered lightly and moved forward to plop down into one of the seats before his desk. "They're out there still talking about the finer points of how to prepare soup. Did you know there were so many ways to clean and chop a leek?"

Hiashi's shudder answered hers. "No. And it was knowledge I never sought nor wanted. You're the one inviting these women to dinner."

Anko shrugged and slid down wearily into her chair. "Maybe I'm going about it all wrong. Don't these women know that your cook is far better than any of them could hope to be?"

"Emi will be pleased you think so." Hiashi's lips quivered slightly. "The maids are all excited about these women, but Emi is getting fed up with them slipping into the kitchen to give her some 'pointers' on cooking."

"Really?" Anko sat up and eyed the door gleefully. "Maybe Emi will kill off one or two. That could be fun to watch."

A smile actually formed on Hiashi's lips for a moment before he shook his head. "No. No, we can't let my cook kill them. Bad manners."

Anko groaned and stretched, making her mesh clothing mold to her body in interesting ways. "And THAT'S why I shouldn't be on your marriage list, bait fish. Manners. Bah."

"So, when did I graduate from bait shrimp to bait fish?" Hiashi asked, ignoring her comment. He didn't need to point out to this kunoichi at least, why she'd be a disaster as a political mate for him.

The spiky-haired temptress waved off his question in favor of her own. "So. Any of tonights menu catch your eye?" She pouted slightly as he shook his head negatively. "Azami?"

"Too giggly. How can a woman her age act like that?" He groaned as he remembered the woman in question.

"Good. I thought so too." Anko sighed. "Leiko? She's from a very good family."

Hiashi grunted. "Yah. And she reminded us all of that at least 15 times through dinner."

"I only counted fourteen."

The Hyuuga clan leader shrugged and mimicked the haughty woman. "Oh dear, I don't think I could bring myself to eat using bone chopsticks!"

Anko grinned evilly at that and then continued his imitation of Leiko by putting her nose in the air. "Fortunately, I brought my family's preference. Silver is so much more congenial, don't you agree Lord Hiashi?"

The clan leader snorted and shook his head sadly. "She'd be even worse in a political setting than that country woman, the one who used her left hand for the chopsticks. She was very rude to several of the other women, what was her name again? The one who kept talking about shark fin soup."

"Kuri?"

Hiashi nodded. "That's the one. I knew her name had to do with trees or nuts. Chestnut. You know, it's going to be cold soon. Roasted chestnuts sound good."

Anko smiled at the thought. "Roasted is good, but I really like candied chestnuts."

The man chuckled, and gave her a knowing look. "You like anything candied. Even men."

The kunoichi smiled at him and licked her lips. "That whipped cream last night was good, wasn't it?"

"No." Hiashi asserted. "I was good. The cream was icing on the cake, so to speak."

Anko shuddered lightly as heat washed over her body. Dratted man was right. He had been good. Very, very good. Too good. She needed to stop seeing him, even if was only for sex. Good sex. Mind blowing great sex. "Sumi is a very elegant woman, with a father in the merchants guild. She knows how to play the political wife well."

Hiashi nodded, albeit reluctantly. Numaka Sumi was everything he could hope for in a wife. Even better, she'd stayed out of the squabbling the other women had engaged in at the table. Her manners were perfect, her background was unimpeachable, and she was very beautiful. "I don't like her."

Surprised at how relieved she felt at hearing that, Anko frowned more at herself than at him. "Why not?"

Hiashi shrugged. There wasn't a single reason not to like the woman, but somehow, she grated on him. "Let's just stop it all. I don't need a wife."

Anko eyed him with amusement sparkling in her gaze. "Oh, but you DO need a wife, trout. Or you'll go back from tasty treat to cold fish."

"Why?" He asked, then held up one hand to forestall her answer. "No, not why do I need a wife. But why are you so enamored of helping me find one? What do you get out of it?"

The jounin kunoichi did him the honor of actually thinking over his question a moment before responding. "Torturing you is amusing to me, but then, you know that." She quirked one eyebrow at him as they both recalled last night's sexual romp, complete with 'torture' and silk ties. "And that's how it started. But I've discovered that you're not aways the cold fish you pretend to be. There's a hot stud underneath all that political savvy and high handed mannerisms. You need someone in your life."

Before he could think about it, the words were out of his mouth. "You're in my life." He paused and saw her eyes widen slightly. "For now." He amended to save face.

Anko grinned to hide her inner disquiet. "For now."

o.O.o.O.o.O

Kankuro moaned out loud to alert the two snuggle buddies of his imminent arrival. A rustle of movement, and when he turned the corner Shino and Temari had at least a foot in between the two of them.

"Can't sleep?" Temari asked smoothly.

The puppeteer snorted and handed her the small tube of lotion. "From Hinata, she forgot to give it to you earlier."

"I'll relieve you around 2 a.m., alright?" Shino asked the blond team leader quietly.

She nodded, but didn't smile. Kankuro watched her carefully, but she seemed a bit stiff throughout her shoulders. He waited until the bug ninja was well away before claiming the guy's chair. "Trouble in paradise?" He asked his sister solemnly.

Temari shrugged diffidently. "You too?"

Kankuro sighed and groaned. "She's shy. Doesn't want to do anything Kiba or Shino might misconstrue."

"Misconstrue, my ass." Temari chuckled. "She doesn't want them to KNOW."

They both fell silent again for a long moment. Finally, Kankuro let out a yawn.

"Go to bed. Hinata will probably cuddle with you at least. You'll get some sleep." Temari offered with a quick grin.

The puppeteer didn't move. "What about you?" He asked finally.

"I'm on guard duty." Temari huffed. "Sleeping on duty would be bad. Remember how Baki used to punish us for slacking off?"

Kankuro grinned. "Thought I'd never get the stink of sewer off me. Digging up and cleaning out septic tanks." He shuddered at the horrid memory. "It was effective."

"I'm fine." Temari said, touching his arm gently. "Go on."

The younger sibling eyed his sister. "It's always been us, Temari. The two of us watching each other's back."

The blond paused and watched him with a soft gaze. "I love you. You know that right?"

Kankuro looked away, embarrassed. "Likewise. You know that too, right?"

"Shino's asked me to marry him. Again."

The puppeteer grinned. "You'll be in the same town as me. That'll be fun. They don't know us well in Konoha. All the old pranks will be new again. Our children will play together and we'll visit 'uncle' Gaara often, and ..."

"And I didn't say yes, I told him I'd have to think about it." Temari interrupted him, looking on the verge of tears.

Kankuro watched her closely, trying to figure out what was going on. She looked so hurt. "You've lost me. I thought you loved the guy. Forever and all that romantic stuff."

"I do." She admitted reluctantly. "But there's more to it than that."

And finally, the floodgates opened as she told her younger brother about her pregnancy, and her miscarriage. He stayed silent as she teared up, offering her his hand to hold. She squeezed so hard he wasn't sure any of the bones wouldn't break. But he stayed quiet as she explained what the medics had told her. Finally, her grip eased as she explained Shino's reaction to her telling him what was wrong.

"So." He finally spoke up as she fell silent. "So, what's to think about?"

Temari laughed, but it wasn't light hearted, more sad than anything else. "I can't!"

"He knows, right?" Kankuro tried thinking it through as he spoke. "He knows you can't give him children and still the man wants to marry you. Sounds pretty good. I may have to actually like him. Maybe."

The blond shook her head sadly. "It's not just him, you know. Since we're of two different villages, then the marriage would have to be accepted by both elder councils. And his family. There's no way they'll let a barren woman marry the heir to one of their best families."

"Do I care?" The husky voice came from behind them. "Woman, you're going to be the death of me."

Temari turned, shocked.

Kankuro chuckled as he stood and stretched. "He came back while you were telling me about what happened. Some guard you are." He teased as he headed back towards his bedroom. He paused as he drew level with the Aburame. "Treat her right."

"Tell Hinata Kiba's out and snoring, and the room on the other side of you is empty." The bug master told him quietly.

The puppeteer nodded and bunched a fist lightly against the other man's shoulder as they passed each other in the hallway. "Remember, Temari. Likewise."

Shino approached the blond kunoichi at the head of the stairwell carefully. "Likewise?"

She smiled uncertainly at him. "A show of ...support."

"He'll be living in Konoha now." He told her in his quiet manner. "And if the councils won't let you marry in my village, there's always yours."

Temari caught her breath. "The Leaf council will never countenance letting you immigrate to Suna, not with the Aburame bugs and all."

"It won't come to that, I promise." Shino said and leaned forward to kiss her eyebrow. "Just say you love me and will marry me. We'll take care of the rest as it comes along."

The blond sighed as her stomach turned over and her blood began to heat up once more. "You can't be making promises you don't know if you can keep."

Shino watched her, then reached up to take off his sunglasses. Silver eyes stared at her, making her squirm just a bit. "I promise that if you agree to marry me, it will happen. One way, or another."

Temari let out a long drawn out sigh. "I love you."

He shook his head at her. "Wrong answer."

She shook her head sadly at him. "This can't work."

"Wrong answer."

Finally, she nodded. Knowing that without this man at her side, she didn't want to ever get married. "Yes."

One side of Shino's mouth quirked up before he lunged forward and gave her a quick, hard kiss that left her breathless. "That's the right answer."

o.O.o.O.o.O

The three were silent as they approached the gates of Konoha. One was lost in his own morose thoughts. One was angry. And one was fuming.

"Hey, Team Kakashi! Welcome back. Everything go well?" The guard at the main gate greeted them, but watched in puzzlement as Kakashi shambled on past him without a word or a nod.

"Thanks. The mission was a success." Naruto said shortly. The guard scratched his head in wonder. The blond shinobi was never this quiet. Never.

Sakura grunted at him, not remembering his name. Ever since Kotetsu and Izumo had finally made jounin status, she couldn't seem to remember the names of the new chuunin guards. She rushed forward to catch up with Naruto.

"Ramen?" She offered. "I'm buying."

"No thanks." Said the blond, sending the pink-haired woman into spasms of anger as she clutched at her hair.

"Stop it! Stop not talking to me!" She huffed and puffed angrily.

Naruto looked over at her snidely. "Why? You never listen to what I say."

Sakura fumed, feeling very out-of-sorts. Kakashi was acting all weird and now one of the 'rocks' in her life was acting out of character. "You haven't said more than three words to me since we left! If it wasn't about the mission, you wouldn't say a word!"

"You going to listen to reason?" He stopped and eyed her measuringly. His blue eyes narrowed dangerously on her.

The pink-haired girl stopped and sighed. "Fine. I'll admit that Kakashi is acting odd. But that doesn't mean we have to get him back with my mother!"

"He was on time for everything, not just mission stuff. And he hasn't picked up his book in days. Days, Sakura!"

Sakura grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. "Look, maybe she doesn't want him back."

"Then we drop it." Naruto assured her. "But, just go home and be honest. Watch her. Find out why she ended it between them."

"Alright, alright!" She yelped, and threw up her hands in surrender. "I'll go home now and see what I can find out."

Naruto shook his head and grabbed her hand, leading her down the street in a rush. "After dinner. I seem to recall you offering to foot the bill for RAMEN!"

Sakura groaned, but was so relieved he was back to his old self that she gave in with only the slightest amount of ill grace. She even smiled at him a few times during dinner, having forgotten how much she enjoyed his company.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Kankuro slipped back into bed, unsure if Hinata was still awake. The fall weather was playing havoc with the temperature. Days could still heat up, but the nights were dipping down low. He went to the closet and pulled out an extra blanket. Hinata had those cold feet that she loved putting on him at night.

He grinned as he headed back to the bed and spread the blanket out over the occupied bed. Seems his wife at least liked the heat he generated.

"You cold?" Hinata asked sleepily, wondering at the extra blanket. The night was cool, but not truly cold. Her husband, though, was from the desert. Maybe he wasn't used to it getting so cold. And they were heading north into the Land of Earth. It wasn't inconceivable that they'd hit some early snow as they approached the mountains.

Kankuro grunted as he slipped into bed beside her. "Kiba's snoring and the bedroom next door is empty."

"Byakugan." Hinata called out and took a good long look around her. She paused as she saw something interesting. "Your sister isn't alone."

"I know." He said gruffly. "But they won't do anything while their on guard duty."

So pleased was she with his acceptance of Shino being anywhere near his sister, Hinata leaned up and kissed him.

Kankuro groaned and melted into the kiss, turning it from sensual to erotic in a heartbeat. "Oh pumpkin!" He managed as they came up for air, only to sink back into each other less than a second later.

"Shhhh ..." She whispered and pushed him onto his back as she leaned over him, trailing kisses down his chest.

"I thought you liked pumpkin." He protested weakly. Every time he reached for her though, she knocked his hands away.

"No." She giggled lightly. "YOU like pumpkin. Now, shhhh ...no noise. Kiba sleeps lightly."

"Hinata ...we're married, it's okay." Kankuro said, then stopped, going breathless as she kissed and tongued down his stomach. "Pumpkin ...Bright Eyes?"

But she didn't answer, not verbally anyway. Kankuro sucked in a giant breath and held it as her teeth tugged at the ties to his sleep pants. Not wanting to disturb or distress her, not wanting to stop her, he fell silent.

The purple-haired beauty's bravery lasted until she peeled off his pants and got a good long look at what she was contemplating taking into her mouth. At first, she'd only wanted to kiss him ...there. But Little Bit and Mika had opened up a whole new idea for her. She swallowed hard, her eyes going wide with trepidation.

The eager puppeteer eyed her, seeing the color recede from her face. "Baby, you don't have too."

Color swept back into her face and Kankuro started to reach for her, when she reached out and grabbed him in her fist. He stopped cold. "Uhm, careful there." Kankuro warned her on a hissed out breath.

Hinata felt the throb of his heartbeat all along the hot hard length of his cock. She turned narrowed eyes on him. "What did I say a...about calling me Baby?"

Kankuro was not about to start a fight with her now. Not when he was on the verge of something good. And definitely not when she held a particularly sensitive part of his anatomy in her hand. Her lethal, highly capable jounin hand. "Lilac? Sunny? Princess? Puppy? Beautiful? Darling? Kitten? Angel?" His voice rose to a near squeak with each subsequent endearment.

She squeezed just hard enough to make him arch his back and shut up. Panting, he fell back and cracked open his eyes. "Pumpkin?"

"Back to fruit are you?" She smiled, appalled at her own actions. This wasn't her! This couldn't be her with her hand on his cock and bantering, could it? Hinata ran a thumb over the crown of his penis, delighting as he lost his breath and moaned, arching up once more. A feeling of power suddenly washed over her.

He was reacting so wonderfully, and she hadn't even done anything yet. Not really. Without warning, she leaned down, her hair tickling his balls unmercifully as she opened her mouth over him and wrapped it around his erection.

There, they both froze. Hinata stared up his body at him, and his wide, dark eyes drank in the sight of her with her mouth wrapped around him. Hinata whimpered, and the movement of her mouth around him made his whole body shudder and shake.

She smiled and reached out to cup him gently as she used her tongue as instructed by the tea girls. He bucked underneath her, and for a wild moment she'd thought she'd hurt him. But when her eyes flew up to his face, she could tell he wasn't hurting. Not exactly.

After exploring him a bit more with her tongue, it dawned on her that she'd forgotten what Little Bit had told her. Gathering her courage, she swallowed. The action drew him deeper down her throat, making her feel like she was on the verge of choking.

For Kankuro, her action nearly spelled the end. He was holding on by a thread as it was, to be suddenly taken so deep, with her wonderful hot mouth utterly surrounding him ...he shouted hoarsly.

Hinata sat up abruptly, looking around wildly before glaring down at him. "No noise, remember?"

Kankuro was past caring, aching so hard he was nearly weeping. He grabbed her and pulled her down. Hinata struggled, coming down on her hands and knees. This wasn't over, she wasn't done yet! She started to tell him so when he reared up and was behind her before she could open her mouth.

The sound of cloth ripping stunned her, but not as much as his sudden penetration. Her last coherent thought was a revelation. She didn't have to be on her back, or on top of him! She wondered if the tea girls knew about this?!

o.O.o.O.o.O

In his own room, Kiba groaned. Waking just enough to be sure that nothing was attacking. When he realized what it was that had awakened him, he grinned and rolled over to go back to sleep. "Go Hinata."

Akamaru whined, then he too went back to sleep.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Okay, already ate the cookies. But REVIEWS would be good too! LOL