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

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, skltl90, ssspooky, McKazekage, xforeverherex, shyprincess82, sailorangelmoon1, Uchiha Miyoki-chan, and stealingthunder101 for all your reviews! Each time I see a review, or a favorite/follow, alert in my e-box, I appreciate anew your support of me and this story. I am so, so very thankful for all of you!

Author's Note: This is a really long chapter. It's been through two rewrites and twice as many edits, so I'm really happy I was able to get it out to you on time. I must admit I had some trouble writing this chapter, but just as I was beginning to panic and think I wasn't going to get it done in time, everything kind of fell into place and began to flow. Some more questions are answered in this chapter, and it's the last one taking place in Suna for a little while. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reading!

*~Chapter XII~*

~Redemption~

"I'm so sorry, Hinata."

The apology impacted her chest like a punch, and Hinata staggered back a step. She wanted to ask Gaara why he was apologizing to her, especially since he was covered in blood - his own? - but she couldn't get her voice to work.

A few disjointed images from her earlier dream flashed through her mind's eye. For a few moments she felt like she was a child again, seeing her new friend in a way she'd never expected. But now, twelve years older and wiser, a new, startling understanding came to her. Now, just as then, he was willing to do anything it took to protect her.

Even if the idea frightened her, didn't she owe it to him to support him, to let him know she would stay by him? She could sense he was hovering on the edge of some sort of mental cliff, and whether he took a step back to safety or fell forward into madness all hinged on her further reactions to him.

Swallowing hard, Hinata reached deep inside herself into a well of courage she didn't know was within her grasp. She regained her lost step, then took a few cautious more until she could kneel next to him, though she didn't dare touch him. "G-Gaara?" His shoulders flinched inwards ever-so-slightly when she said his name, but Hinata did not let it deter her. "Are you hurt?"

"No." He didn't lift his head from where it rested on his fist against the floor. His voice sounded choked, and Hinata panicked. Maybe she'd been entirely wrong, still halfway lost in the fog of her dream, and she'd only assumed he wasn't injured. If he was-!

Grasping his shoulders, still sticky with drying blood, Hinata tugged frantically until she managed to get him up into a slumped, albeit upright, position. Cupping his face in her shaking hands, Hinata forced him to meet her eyes.

It took everything she had to prevent herself from recoiling. His face was wet from silent tears trickling from his eyes, and the sheer power of the look of self-loathing and torture when she gazed into those green depths... "G-Gaara, whatever happened?" She gently pushed some red hair off his forehead, allowing her fingertips to linger on his tattoo for a few seconds.

"It's been so long," he whispered, staring vacantly through her to something only he could see. "I've worked so hard, I thought - I promised - I would never do it again..." His head fell forward again, and she heard his teeth grinding together painfully.

As soon as Matsuri left to get a cup of tea for her mistress after saying all was well, Hinata had heard movement in Gaara's room. Thinking to check up on him, make sure he had survived the attack on the village unscathed, she'd gone to open the door so she could poke her head into his room and say something to him. Instead of finding him in a hurry to get back outside, like she'd expected, she'd found a scene unlike any she'd ever imagined. She'd never seen her strong, in-control husband look so broken before. What could have possibly brought this on? And what had he promised never to do again, and to whom had he promised it?

"What?" Hinata asked quietly. "What d-did you p-promise not to do, G-Gaara?"

He licked his dry lips before replying. "To kill."

Hinata blinked. "The p-person who attacked the v-village?" she asked.

Gaara nodded once, silently.

Reaching up to smooth her hand through his soft red hair, now sticky with drying blood, Hinata forced a reassuring smile to her lips. "You d-did it to keep your p-people safe," she whispered. "There is n-nothing to b-be ashamed of about that." She didn't like the thought of people dying, but she'd learned long ago the leader of her village - both Konoha and now Suna - would do whatever was necessary to protect those over whom they watched.

She was very glad she was not in such a position of leadership. She wasn't certain she could ever make such decisions, let alone carry them out.

"But it didn't have to be that way," he ground out. "Had we captured him alive, he could have told us who sent him, why he was here..." He let out a long sigh, the tension in his shoulders not easing even a little with the release of his breath. "But I destroyed that chance - and him."

A flutter of unease darted through Hinata's chest. "What d-do you mean b-by 'd-destroyed'?" she asked.

Gaara's lips twisted derisively as he stared down at himself. "Look at me, Hinata. I'm covered with another man's blood. There's only one way that could have happened. You have to ask that question?"

Hinata swallowed hard, trying not to let Gaara's sarcastically snapped comment hurt her. She knew he didn't mean it that way. "B-But if it was you or him-"

"Don't try to rationalize this, Hinata." A bit of his old self reappeared as he looked up at her. It was heartening, seeing the rationality slowly seeping back into his eyes and expression. "It can't be done. I'm-" his voice broke, and his head bowed again "-I'm a cold-blooded killer, and no matter how hard I try to change, I guess I always will be."

The whispers she'd grown so accustomed to hearing in Konoha crept along the far reaches of her mind, but she ground her teeth and stubbornly pushed them away. This was the first evidence she'd seen to support her people's murmurs, and even then, she wasn't sure she really believed it. The things she'd learned about Gaara over her time in Suna was such a juxtaposition to what she was seeing now, she just couldn't bring herself to entertain thoughts of those old rumors again. "I d-don't b-believe it," she said as firmly as she could manage.

Gaara looked up at her again, surprise filling his expression. "Hinata-"

"N-No." She reached out with nervous, shaking hands and cupped his wet face, allowing the tiny seed of affection deep inside her to sprout and begin growing. "I d-don't b-believe a single word of it. N-Not after all I've seen and what you've d-done for me while I've b-been here."

"The evidence is right here in front of your eyes, and you still can't believe it?" He shook his head and sighed heavily. "Look, Hinata, I-I was so in hopes things would go the way I wanted, the way I've been dreaming the past few years. But I see now that - that it's impossible." Reaching up, he gently took her hands in his and pulled them away from his face, offering a soft squeeze before he carefully placed them in her lap and then withdrew. "When we return to Konoha in a few days, I will not blame you if you wish to stay there. Permanently." He closed his eyes briefly, as if saying the words had caused him pain, but when they opened again, there was nothing but resigned determination to be found in his gaze.

Hinata leaned back in shock. "What?"

Gaara shifted to stare down at his bloody hands, the patches of skin showing through bone-white from the grip he had on his knees. "We haven't - well - consummated our marriage, so it wouldn't be hard to get an annulment. Then you'll be free to marry whomever you want. Free to marry someone who deserves you."

Caught somewhere between the urge to cry and the urge to strangle Gaara for being so cursed noble (and, at least in her opinion, rather stupid), she curled her hands into fists and stared at him until he was forced to meet her gaze. "I d-don't want to stay in K-Konoha and marry someone else," she said. Her answer surprised even her, especially considering her own reaction when Naruto had come to Suna. But she could not deny the truth of it. Even though, as Gaara had so bluntly pointed out, their marriage was not consummated, she was still his wife. And she was beginning to discover that fact was not something about which she should be frightened or anxious.

Apparently it startled Gaara as well, judging by his expression as he sharply looked up at her again. "Hinata-"

"D-Don't try to talk me out of it." Straightening her back and shoulders, she sat rigidly, hoping she looked as determined as she felt. "When we g-go to K-Konoha, it will b-be for Father's funeral. And then I will c-come b-back home with you." She'd never stood up to anyone before in her entire seventeen years of life, but she figured this was a pretty good time to start. She only hoped she was convincing enough.

If Gaara could show the same fearless determination in the face of something which so obviously pained him, she could do the same thing. It was past time for her to learn how to do the same thing.

And, if she wanted to remain Gaara's wife, she was going to have to do the same thing.

This time Gaara ran his hand through his red hair, looking torn. "I've let you get too close," he whispered at last.

Hinata snapped her mouth closed on what she'd planned to say next. Now she had to wonder: did he mean that as a good thing, or a bad one?

Before she could find her voice (not to mention an appropriate response), Gaara's gaze drifted past her toward the doorway between their rooms. Hinata turned and was surprised to see Temari standing there, her gaze drifting knowingly between the two of them.

"Everyone's waiting for you," she said to her brother. "I'll stay with Hinata now."

Irritation flickered through Gaara's eyes, but he didn't say anything to his sister. Instead, he quickly stood, then hesitated for only a moment before reaching down to help Hinata to her feet. "We'll talk about this more later," he promised. Then he vanished into his washroom and closed the door firmly behind him.

Temari waited in the doorway until Hinata inched past her, then closed the door behind them. "Matsuri brought the tea," she said, motioning toward the sitting area visible through Hinata's open bedroom door. "She's gone to take care of some other business before we leave in just a few hours."

The thought of sharing tea with her sister-in-law, especially in light of the conversation she'd just had with Gaara, didn't really appeal. But Hinata was used to doing things she didn't necessarily like, so she allowed none of her feelings to show on her face as she followed Temari into the next room.

After Hinata cleaned her hands, the two women settled down across from each other at the table before Temari went about pouring the tea. Hinata waited patiently, quietly, while the sound of liquid splashing and cups clattering against saucers filled the silence.

At last Temari set down the tea pot and cradled her cup for a few seconds before taking her first sip. "You must have questions," she said, lowering it back down to the table. "Go on. Ask them."

"Actually, I d-do have one question." Ignoring her own tea, Hinata leaned forward on her cushion and pinned her sister-in-law with an intense stare. "How much of G-Gaara's and my c-conversation d-did you hear?"

Temari's hand froze with her cup halfway to her mouth. A brief, ugly expression flickered through her eyes, then vanished as she lowered her tea and lifted her head. "Enough." A muscle in her jaw twitched repeatedly, making her seem very angry.

Hinata leaned back and rested her folded hands in her lap. "So you know G-Gaara wants to end our marriage b-by leaving me in K-Konoha after Father's funeral."

"I know you've made it very easy for that to happen." Temari's lips thinned in obvious disapproval as she fixed her sister-in-law with an icy look. "Have you no idea what you've risked by not consummating this marriage? I can believe it of you, but not my brother. He knows what the stakes are."

Flinching in shock, Hinata had to focus hard to keep from withdrawing into herself. She'd already known Temari didn't approve of her, after all. This new evidence of her dislike shouldn't hurt as much as it did. "And what are the stakes?" she asked softly.

She'd been hoping to catch Temari off guard, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Curling her lip up in a sneer, the blonde shook her head. "If Gaara's chosen not to tell you about it, that's his business. But I can't believe he'd leave a duty undone."

Hinata, who had just taken a sip of tea to try to calm her jangling nerves, nearly choked. "D-Duty?" she gasped when able to breathe again. She wasn't sure which offended her more - Temari's casual dismissal of Gaara and Hinata's relationship, or her vulgar reference to something Hinata had always been told was sacred and special between a husband and wife.

Temari must have realized she'd overstepped a boundary, because she winced and bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have said that."

No, you shouldn't. Hinata stared down at her blurry cup through the tears stinging her eyes. Even if it was true, Temari shouldn't have voiced those words.

Sighing heavily, Temari leaned forward until she drew Hinata's attention again. "I am sorry," she repeated. "But please believe me when I tell you there is far more to this situation than you could ever imagine. Gaara knows about it - even more than I do, to be honest, and I don't envy him the responsbility of that knowledge - and your not consummating your marriage makes things ten times more complicated, not to mention dangerous."

"So p-please tell me," Hinata begged. "Tell me why this is all s-so important, s-so I'll b-be able to d-do something to help. Or, at the least, s-so I'll b-be able to understand."

"I can't do that." Temari's answer was as quickly said as it was final. "For one thing, as I said, I don't know the entire situation. For another, I don't have the right to tell you. That falls to my brother. He'll tell you everything, but only when the time is right. And the time is not right - that much I know, anyway."

"B-But if G-Gaara has anything to say about it, the time will n-never b-be right," Hinata argued. "He wants us to annul our marriage. If that d-does happen, and I'm forced to stay in K-Konoha while he returns here-"

"That won't happen." Again, Temari sounded absolutely certain about her answer. "My brother means well, and trust me when I say he wants nothing less than your absolute safety and happiness. But he's going a little overboard. The whole point of this exercise was to get you here to Suna, where you will be safe. Getting an annulment and leaving you in Konoha will go against everything he and your father have done to protect you." She sighed and reached up to brush a lock of hair off her forehead. "He's just a little - rattled right now and not thinking clearly. But trust me, as soon as he takes a few moments to think rationally about this, he'll say the same thing I just did. Annulment is not an option."

"Why d-do I n-need protecting so b-badly? Everyone is always telling me this, b-but n-no one ever explains why." It was really starting to grate on Hinata's nerves. Didn't anyone think she was old enough to handle this information? To understand? To accept it?

Apparently not.

"Believe it or not, I'm taking your side this time," Temari said. "My brother's got too much on his mind right now, and it's making him come up with entirely unfeasible ideas. Truthfully, he needs you now more than ever, whether he realizes it or not." She took another drink of her tea, expression resolute.

Hinata reluctantly drew her own cup back to herself and took a little sip. The tea was growing tepid, but she didn't care for she was too distracted to absorb the taste. "Are you telling me G-Gaara d-didn't really mean what he said about the annulment?"

"Oh, he was completely serious." Temari glanced over her shoulder towards Hinata's bedroom, as if to make sure they weren't being overheard. "How much do you know, or remember, about Gaara's past?"

"He told me quite a b-bit yesterday d-during b-breakfast." Hinata spun her cup around and around in her hands, concentrating on the swirling liquid inside so she wouldn't have to look up at her sister-in-law. "And I had a d-dream earlier, right b-before the explosion. I still d-don't really remember meeting him when we were young, b-but I think I'm starting to." She shivered at the memory of all that blood, of Gaara's boyish face twisted into an inhumanly monstrous snarl. "I understand n-now why my people whispered things about him. Why they c-called him a murderer." And a monster. But she couldn't bring herself to give voice to those three words, particularly the last. She knew too much about Gaara now ever to think of him in that context.

Temari nodded slowly. "It wasn't really his fault," she said. Staring down into her own cup, her expression took on a dark cast as her eyes unfocused. "Gaara doesn't like us to talk about this, but you need to know. If you're going to understand him, and what drives him to do things like try to push you away, you need to understand his past. His childhood - well, if you can call his younger years a childhood."

Remembering Gaara's telling her he had never been allowed to be a child, Hinata clasped her hands in her lap and nodded. "He told me he was n-never allowed to b-be a child. B-But he d-didn't tell me why."

"The why of things is actually very complex in its simplicity, as strange as that sounds." Temari finally looked up again, her eyes shadowed as she met Hinata's squarely. "I was six when Gaara was born. Our mother had already suffered two difficult pregnancies with me and Kankuro, and carrying Gaara was simply too much for her. She died delivering Gaara almost four months too early."

Hinata cringed sympathetically. This she could understand more than Temari realized, since she'd been just old enough when Hanabi was born to understand what was happening to her mother when she died bringing Hinata's younger sister into the world. Hoshi had given her life so her daughter would live, and her older daughter had never forgotten that sacrifice. She had lived her own life trying to honor her mother, to bring Hanabi up in the way she knew would make Hyuuga Hoshi proud. Even when, at times, it was so painful she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep doing it - or if she wanted to keep doing it.

Temari's voice drew Hinata out of her own musings. "Gaara was so small I could practically hold him in the palm of my hand. He was strong, though, so strong it surprised all the healers." Her lips twisted into a disapproving frown as she closed her eyes. "My father, however, was inordinately pleased after he finished raging over and mourning my mother's death. He was obsessed with leading Suna to be the most powerful military force in the world, and he finally had - literally, in the palm of his hand - the one thing he'd searched tirelessly for his entire life: the ultimate weapon."

A shiver of forboding went up Hinata's spine, and her hands clenched into fists around the fabric of her robe. Please, please let this not be going where I think it is. Please.

"As soon as he figured Gaara was old enough to understand what he was attempting to teach, my father cut him off from Kankuro and me and started drilling into my brother's head that he was dangerous. A murderer. A monster." Hatred flashed through Temari's eyes, and she sneered. "Before then, my father's goals in life had been something I never thought about. After he took my little brother away from me and started twisting him into a monster, I thought about it far more than I wanted to. I hated him for what he was doing to Gaara, but I was only eight years old. There was nothing I could do, no one to whom I could turn to help me save him."

Temari's expression changed, so slightly Hinata almost didn't notice it. "As my father became more and more consumed with brainwashing Gaara, Kankuro and I were left to ourselves increasingly often. Upon realizing this, Uncle Yashamaru, my mother's brother, came to take care of us. He agreed to help me try to save Gaara from our father."

"It must have worked," Hinata said when her sister-in-law paused. "G-Gaara's n-nothing like that n-now."

"He's not," Temari agreed. "But I'm not sure Uncle Yashamaru had anything to do with it. Despite his best intentions, my father had gotten a hold on Gaara's psyche when he was too young and impressionable, and Uncle said there was nothing he could do, though he would continue to try." She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Unfortunately, nothing my uncle did helped. But he must have made some sort of impression on Gaara, for when we visited Konoha, he seemed to become a completely different person. When he met you, he became the happy, playful child I'd always hoped to see in him. There was no sign of the bloodthirsty monster my father was trying to nurture, and once he got over his anger at how quickly Gaara changed, Father saw an opportunity. One he was sure would help him assert his authority over Konoha."

Hianta nodded quickly. "I recognize this part. G-Gaara told me about his father's plan, and my attempted kidnapping. How he saved me. And how Lord Sarutobi went behind my father's back and signed a marriage agreement with your father in attempt to broker peace."

"Good," Temari murmured, looking relieved. "You know about all that, then. And - and about what happened to Uncle Yashamaru."

This time Hinata's nod was much slower and filled with sadness.

"Even though my father had not been brainwashing my uncle from the cradle like he was my brother, Yashamaru was still loyal to Suna. Despite Yashamaru's hatred of my father, he saw what he claimed was the 'wisdom' in Father's plan, so he went along with it, albeit reluctantly." Temari's lips thinned as she shook her head once, sharply. "It was, as you know, to his disadvantage."

Hinata couldn't completely hide the shudder that went through her. "Yes," she agreed softly. "B-But, again, he's n-nothing like that n-now."

"True. But my father realized, after we got back home and he had some time to think about it, that things had gone far more his way in Konoha than he'd realized. Gaara was turning into the perfect weapon he'd always hoped for, and he was beginning to think he was poised to take the world in his grasp." Temari looked down swiftly, but not before Hinata saw the frightening glint of triumph in the blonde's steely eyes. "And then his greatest weapon turned on him."

Hinata fought the urge to recoil. "G-Gaara killed his father?" she whispered.

Temari lifted her head, her expression once more under control. "No!" she denied quickly, vehemently. "Oh, many supsect it, naturally. But no matter what they think, it's not true." Her expression cracked, very briefly, before resuming its smooth, emotionless mask. "No, Gaara carries no blame in what happened. I, however..." She trailed off tellingly.

The few sips of tea Hinata had taken began to churn uncomfortably in her stomach. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest of what Temari had to say, but she couldn't move to shake her head or say anything to stop her.

Lifting her chin slightly, Temari allowed the slightest ghost of a smile to flicker over her lips. "I was there when it happened," she whispered. "I was there, albeit in hiding, when it happened. And though I was in a position to help, perhaps even to stop things..." She shook her head once, her lips once more flattening into a harsh, unsmiling line. "I didn't."

Hinata curled her hands into fists around the fabric of her robe. Her instincts were shouting at her to run, but she didn't. She sensed Temari needed to talk about this, to get it off her chest. And she knew she needed to listen, even though she was certain she wouldn't like what she was about to hear.

"I had followed my brother that night," Temari said distantly, her eyes hazy. "He confronted our father, said he didn't want to be a weapon any more. He didn't want to hurt or kill anyone else. He wanted to be a normal person. To have people look at him with comaraderie and respect, not fear and hatred." A small smile curled up the corner of her mouth. "I think it was you, ultimately, who inspired all this in him, Hinata. He was still very young, but he spoke with the maturity of someone far older than his years.

"My father got very angry," the blonde continued, once more distant and unsmiling. "He flew into a rage, tried to attack Gaara. That was a mistake. I was ready to intercede, should it be required, but I should have given my little brother more credit. I had seen him on the attack before, but this time he had such control it was amazing. Like he was a completely different person. He defended himself, but did nothing to hurt our father. Not permanently, anyway. He just left him unconscious and then slipped out of the room."

She shrugged. "He saw me, though I thought I'd hidden myself well. I wanted to say something to him, to let him know how much I supported him, and was proud of him, but I was too surprised." Her head dipped, her eyes suddenly very sad and full of pain. "I still wish I'd been able to say something. We are much closer now than we used to be, but I think Gaara still feels stung by my inability to say anything that night."

"It's n-not your fault," Hinata said, trying to be soothing.

"Ha!" Temari let out a quick, harsh laugh. Hinata jumped. "Instead of reaching out to my brother, like I should have, I took the coward's way out and stayed quiet."

This time Hinata knew better than to speak again. Temari didn't want to hear anything which differed from what she'd been thinking, feeling, all these years. If Hinata did try again to speak, she knew it would be like talking to a brick wall, so she refrained and allowed her sister-in-law to continue her story unhindered.

"Gaara left. I wanted to follow him, but I stayed, waiting to see how Father reacted when he woke. If he was angry enough to do something to my little brother for disobeying him, I had already determined I was going to stop him." Once again, Temari's eyes gleamed with cold fire, making seem suddenly almost frightening, as dangerous as her brother could be.

"It didn't take long for him to come around." Temari shoved her tea away so hard the cup nearly upset and spilled its now-cold contents across the table. "He was angry, though he made no move to leave his office. He merely paced around for a while, shouting and cursing. Shoving papers off his desk, pushing his chair over, things like that, you know? He was throwing a tantrum, but I figured as long as he stayed in there, Gaara was safe."

Hinata could almost imagine the scene. She couldn't remember ever meeting Gaara's father, but she'd seen a picture of him hanging on the wall commemorating past leaders of Suna. Even in the painting, he looked harsh, commanding, as if he expected every order he gave to be obeyed immediately and without question. There was a harshness to the set of his mouth and the curve of his eyes which made it very easy for her to imagine him flying into a rage and destroying his office.

She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts, once again, by Temari speaking. "I must have stayed in my hiding place a good hour or more, just watching Father rage around destroying things. But then he started to calm down, and I decided it was finally okay for me to leave. I was tired, and it seemed likely Father wouldn't do anything dangerous, at least not until morning." The blonde's fingers went to the pouch at her waist, which Hinata had not noticed before. Apparently Temari, too, had picked up some weapons to help defend Suna earlier. Had it only been a couple of hours since the explosion woke Hinata from her strange dream?

"But before I could leave," Temari continued, "something changed. I heard a voice - one I will never forget - hiss a greeting. I couldn't see everything going on, but my father moved out of my line of sight, greeting the other man. No names were spoken, but it was obvious the two men knew each other well, and this was some sort of meeting. I considered leaving - everyone knew never to eavesdrop on one of my father's meetings - but something held me in place."

Temari pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment, her fingers now drumming against the edge of the table in a nervous, staccato beat. "They were discussing some sort of deal, and Konoha was mentioned. My father spoke of Gaara's earlier rebellion, and the other man-" She broke off, a shudder briefly faltering her fingers' rhythm. "The way I understood it, he wanted to take my little brother away. He said he had a sure-fire way of training him which would make him not only unstoppable, but unwilling to go against those in authority over him."

Hinata felt her breath catch in her throat. She knew, obviously, that such a thing had never happened, since Gaara was still living in Suna and serving as leader of the village. But, at the same time, she felt the same fear Temari must have, thinking of him being taken away and turned into a completely mindless monster, with nothing left of the boy she had known as a child who turned into the man she knew now.

"I was tempted to run in right then," Temari continued. "After everything my brother had already gone through, added to how proud I was of his walking away from everything and wanting to become a different, better, person? No way." She sighed, her fingers at last going still. "But before I could move, my father did. He said he didn't trust the other man, that he would continue to do things his way. He'd regain control over my brother, and then their plans would return to running smoothly."

Folding her hands on her lap, Temari met Hinata's eyes squarely for the first time since she began her story. "The other man said the deal my father offered was 'unsatisfactory.' I still couldn't see what was going on from my position, but I heard the sound of fighting." She shook her head once, very slowly, and then lowered her eyes. "I thought about running for help, to get some guards to assist my father. But then - then I realized how much better things would be if he were gone. My brother could heal, Suna could change, and-" She halted abruptly, an almost guilty expression flashing across her face. "Anyway, I stayed right where I was, and before too long, it was over."

A shiver went up Hinata's spine, cold and dreadful. She saw her sister-in-law in a completely new way, one she wished she didn't know.

Temari looked up again, only the barest hint of remorse in her eyes. "I heard the other man leave, and I slipped out of my hiding place. I only had to take one look at my father to know he was gone. So I ran straight to Gaara's room, screaming for guards as I drew closer. I don't know if the man who killed my father intended to take my brother or not, but I didn't take the chance. The guards never reported seeing anyone close to Gaara's room that night, and I don't know if it was because of the guards' presence or not."

She sighed. "I told the guards not protecting my brother I had gone up to talk to my father and found him dead. I didn't tell them I had witnessed it, nor that I did nothing to stop it." Temari lowered her gaze again. "In a way, I regret what I did. But what I don't regret is keeping Gaara safe, or helping him usher in a time of change for our village."

Hinata sensed they'd finally come to the end of her sister-in-law's very painful story. "That's it, then?" she asked quietly. She wasn't sure what to feel, what to think. She wasn't sure whether to be afraid of Temari, or thankful for what she'd done since it helped turn Gaara into the man she'd married.

Temari arched one eyebrow. "Don't say that like it's a bad thing," she said acerbically. "After that, Gaara was able to begin to heal. It took three years, but eventually he was able to convince our people he was ready to take over leadership of Suna and begin to repair the damage his father wrought. He was sixteen when he officially became the head of Suna."

Hinata let out her breath. And I thought my family is dysfunctional. "G-Gaara wasn't lying when he said the foundation of this v-village was forged with steel and b-blood, was he?" she asked softly. She was beginning to realize the history books she'd been reading in the library were only the barest bones of Suna's real history - nothing at all like the real, fleshed-out truth.

Temari smiled thinly, looking surprised at Hinata's perceptive - and rather courageous - question. "No, they weren't," she agreed. She seemed relieved Hinata had not reacted negatively to her story, and at the change of subject. "Suna was built with steel and blood, but that is in the distant past. It's not that way any longer." She flicked a hand toward one of the windows, which was beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn. In just a few hours, they would be leaving for Konoha. "We still have a strong military, but it is not to be used to bully other nations into bowing at our feet. It is to keep the peace my brother has worked so hard to nurture and protect our village."

"So the mistrust I sensed at G-Gaara's and my wedding...?" Hinata let her voice trail off.

"Well, it's only been five years since my father's death, and a bit over two since Gaara gained leadership of the village. Gaara's doing the best he can, but our village has functioned one way for so many generations, it's going to be very difficult for him to change everything. Those who don't believe in him and his cause don't turn against him because they know of his past. They know of what he's capable, and they're frightened of him." Temari traced the rim of her cup with the pad of her index finger, her eyes now thoughtful. "What they don't seem to realize is he's changed, become a different and better man. And as much as my brother hates that people still fear him, he understands that, for now, it's safest if he allows them to continue to do so. It is a very delicate blade on which he teeters, maintaining that balance between respect and fear, but he's doing well. I'm hoping it won't be long until he's able to turn, absolutely and irrevocably, the last of that fear into respect and support."

"He has the support of the younger g-generation." Hinata had sensed that much, anyway, during her short stay in Suna thus far. "And he has my own."

Temari smiled, looking warm and grateful towards Hinata for the first time in their short acquaintance. "Thank you, Hinata." She looked up at the window, then slowly rose to her feet. "I'm afraid we'll have to end our conversation there." She pinned Hinata with her once again piercing gaze, looking every bit as intense as her youngest brother did when he got that look in his eyes. "Can I trust you not to let a word of our conversation leave this room?"

Hinata hesitated only a moment before nodding. If Temari was right, Gaara would eventually approach her with all of this on his own. She knew it would be unwise to push him by telling him she already knew, and perhaps her knowledge of the situation would help her comfort him when the time came. Then, and only then, would she breathe a word of any of this, and only to him. "You have my word."

That seemed to satisfy Temari. "I need to go finish packing for our trip to Konoha," she said. "I'll send Matsuri up to help you."

"Thank you." Hinata bowed to Temari's retreating back, then turned toward her bedroom when the door closed behind her sister-in-law. She'd suffered a basically sleepless night, but her mind was too busy mulling over what she'd just heard to try to snatch a few winks before it was time to leave.

As she started spreading out on the bed a few pieces of clothing she wanted to take with her, Hinata allowed her mind to turn toward what she'd say when Gaara wanted to resume their earlier conversation. If nothing else, what Temari had told her convinced her she was right in not wanting to annul their marriage, and she was going to do all she could to convince him of it, too.

For now, she'd gotten her wish. She had something more important than her grief over her father's death on which to concentrate. Everything would catch up to her again eventually, but until that time came, she would continue to do what she'd set out to do from the moment she'd heard her father's plans for her.

She would work her hardest to make sure her marriage to Gaara was as complete a success as she could make it.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: I know my characterization of Temari, and my portrayal of the things she's done, must seem kind of ... well, strange. But, after I finish Shadows, I'm planning a prequel (besides the one-shot about Gaara and Hinata's childhood encounter), one which will focus on Itachi and Temari's story. So even if it seems like I'm leaving holes here and there, not explaining everything fully, I promise it's for a reason. But, for now, I hope you enjoyed this (really long!) chapter, and I hope to see you next week for chapter 13!