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

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, AnnaUmulie97, McKazekage, TheGirlWithNoIQ, shyprincess82, SinShu, QueenP19, and sailorangelmoon1 for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who has added and continues to add this story to their favorites and follows lists - every single one of you encourage me so much, and I love you all!

Author's Note: I went back and corrected a couple of mistakes in the last chapter - my apologies to those of you who read it before they were fixed. Hopefully there won't be any in this chapter... Also, I hope you enjoy this early update, and have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for reading!

*~Chapter XXVII~*

~Machinations~

Hinata woke up to the jarring sound of the giant gong ringing so close it seemed to be right overhead. Sitting straight up in bed with a little scream, she shot a wild look around the room, trying to find a reason for the abrupt sound. The windows glowed with the first hints of sunrise, bathing the room in a strange combination of orange light and grey shadows.

Next to her, Gaara rolled over and rested a gentle hand against her back. "It's all right," he said. "It's the sandstorm warning. The gong is struck once to warn of an approaching sandstorm, so everyone can take cover indoors, and when it is over, it is struck twice as an 'all clear' signal." Running the pads of his fingers down her spine, he chuckled softly. "I had forgotten you haven't been here during a sandstorm - until now, anyway."

Feeling the frantic racing of her heart slow a little, Hinata turned to look at Gaara. "About how long do sandstorms typically last?" She wanted to make sure she wasn't going to get a rude awakening again the next morning - or, even worse, the middle of the night.

As if knowing why she asked, Gaara smiled at her, a spark of amusement in his eyes. "I promise you'll get used to it eventually," he reassured her. "But to answer your question, anywhere from twelve to seventy-two hours, typically."

"I hope Neji, Tenten, Hanabi, and the others are far enough away it won't reach them," Hinata murmured.

"Most sandstorms here come from the north. Those from Konoha are going northeast, but even at that, they should be far enough ahead of it to be unaffected." Gaara propped himself up on his elbow, raking his opposite hand through his sleep-tousled red hair. "Fortunately I had no outside appointments set up today, because we'll be stuck indoors until tonight at the earliest."

Hinata had been hoping to do a little shopping with Temari, but the sandstorm definitely put an end to those plans. Dropping back down onto her pillows, she stared up at the canopy over her bed as she considered alternate plans for the day. With her shopping trip suddenly quite unwise, she could now spend the day in the library again doing research.

A few hours later, at breakfast, Hinata finally got the opportunity to ask Temari about what she did while sandstorms were raging outdoors.

"Oh, there's plenty to do," the blonde replied. Though her expression conveyed a sense of normalcy, Hinata saw the shadows beneath her eyes and the tension tightening her shoulders.

"Like what?" Hinata inquired eagerly, setting down her chopsticks so she could pin her entire focus on her sister-in-law.

Picking up her teacup, Temari cradled it between her hands as she tilted her golden head thoughtfully. "My normal duties about the household are rather tedious, so sandstorms usually force me to devote more time than I like to them. When that's done, I sometimes go the library and read. Or Itachi and I go to one of the practice rooms and run through some kata. Being a ninja isn't just being able to work with steel weapons. Knowledge of hand-to-hand combat is also necessary, because man-made tools can always be taken away." A small smile curled up the corners of her mouth and lit her eyes. "However, if the person is also a weapon..."

Hinata found her interest piqued. Neji had had the opportunity to show her two or three simple Hyuuga techniques before he and Tenten left. She had run through them several times on her own, wanting to ingrain the movements into her muscle memory just in case she ever had to defend herself. Being the wife of the leader of a village was dangerous - Gaara had warned her of that many times. In addition, she was also the daughter of a prominent clan in her home village - one who had come up with secret techniques envied by many villages. While she knew she was safe in Suna (at least while around her husband, his family, and her ladies' maid), she saw the wisdom of being able to defend herself.

Tenten's gift of weapons was certainly useful, and Hinata had finally reached the point where she could hit her target with some degree of reliability. But as Temari had just said, weapons such as kunai - or even her spring-loaded senbon wristband - could be taken from her. If she knew some martial arts moves - not even necessarily those invented by the Hyuuga, but ones used by other ninja - she would be able to defend herself. She knew that would take a great deal of concern off Gaara's shoulders.

Slanting her husband a look out of the corner of her eye, Hinata pursed her lips slightly as she once again reached for her chopsticks. A plan was forming in her mind - one she planned to put into motion as soon as possible.

Perhaps she wouldn't be as idle today as she thought she would be...

Since the sandstorm had prevented any villagers from coming by the tower for their usual petitions, complaints, and requests, Gaara found himself finishing his duties far earlier than normal. Feeling more cheerful than he had in a while, he hurried from his office to his quarters at the opposite end of the building, looking forward to spending the rest of the day with his wife.

After changing out of the stifling pants, tunic, and vest he wore for business into a pair of lounging pants and a loose shirt, Gaara opened the door separating his bedroom from Hinata's - which was very rarely locked any more - and took a step inside, calling his wife's name as he did so.

Hinata appeared in the doorway leading to the sitting room only a moment later, a pleased smile on her lips. "Gaara!" As he started across the room towards her, she moved in his direction, expression brightening further...

Gaara blinked, half in shock and half in hurt as she hurried past him. Turning to follow her movement, he watched in puzzlement as she opened a drawer on her bedside table and withdrew the laquered box housing the weapons Tenten had made her. "I thought I'd have to wait until later this evening," she was saying as she turned to face him again. "B-But you finished your duties early!"

"Yes..." Gaara drew out the word, wondering what purpose his wife had for pulling out her weapons. She looked happy to see him, but he'd heard somewhere women had some sort of proclivity toward mood swings, particularly at certain times of the month. Or while pregnant...

He wasn't sure whether to be cheered or terrified at the thought.

Pattering back across the room, Hinata stopped in front of him and offered him one of her most breathtaking smiles, her delicate features and pale eyes brightening further with excitement. "I know how to use these," she said, holding up the box. "B-But I want you to teach me more." She practically bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, looking a bit like a little kid having been told she could have any toy she wanted from the marketplace, no matter how big or elaborate or expensive.

Emotions still reeling slightly from the abrupt change in mood from what he'd been expecting into this - whatever this turned out to be - Gaara stared down at the box in her hands. "Do you mean you want me to help you more with the wristbands?" he asked.

Hinata's expression dimmed slightly. "No," she said. "I c-can use those all right, too." Sighing, she reached out and set the box down on the end of her bed, looking a little less enthusiastic than she had a moment before. Gaara felt guilty for having killed her mood. "I mean I want you to teach me how to use other weapons. I've never tried to use a k-katana or anything like that b-before, and Temari b-brought up a point which got me to thinking."

Of course Gaara could blame this on his older sister. He loved Temari, he really did, but sometimes he wanted to strangle her for meddling in things of which he'd really rather she stayed out. What had she been thinking, putting such ideas in sweet, innocent Hinata's head? The thought of her trying to hold a katana - or, worse, having to use it on someone - nearly made his red hair stand on end, it was so terrifying.

When he briskly shook all thoughts of homocide and his sister out of his head, Gaara realized Hinata was still talking. What she said made him wish he'd stayed lost in his thoughts.

"-said something about having regular weapons, like k-kunai and the like, taken away b-by the enemy. That made sense to me. B-But she also said one would never b-be without a weapon if one knew hand-to-hand as well. Neji showed me two or three Hyuuga techniques b-before he and Tenten had to leave, b-but I want to know some things other ninja, like you and Temari and Itachi, use as well. That way I'll always b-be ready to defend myself, and you won't have to worry about me as much."

Gaara nearly jumped out of his skin. Granted, he'd been concerned about Hinata, even though he'd assigned Matsuri - someone he'd trained himself - to be her bodyguard. In fact, she was the only servant within the walls of the Sabaku house he knew he could trust without fail or question, since he knew some - though the exact numbers and identities of whom remained frustratingly out of reach - worked as spies for the Council. It was why he had assigned Matsuri, even though some others would have done the job just as adequately.

But, even at that, he knew Matsuri couldn't always be around. Even he, or Temari, or Kankuro, or Itachi, couldn't always be around. It had been something of a relief when Tenten presented Hinata with some kunai and the spring-loaded senbon wristbands, but even at that, Gaara still worried about what could happen to her in a moment of inattention. As his wife, the danger she was in - already quite a bit - had more than doubled.

"Did you ask Matsuri?" The question escaped his lips before he could think about it, let alone bite it back.

The expression on Hinata's face made him wish he'd been able to censor himself. "No," she replied quietly. "I wanted - I want - you to teach me."

Tension hummed along his nerves, tightening the muscles across his shoulders and singing through his veins. "No." Again, the answer was immediate, said without thinking. "Ask Matsuri. Or Itachi. Or Temari." Since she was the one who started this whole thing, anyway.

Hinata took a step closer, right into his personal space. To his surprise, he had to physically fight the urge to take a step back in response. "No," Hinata replied softly but firmly. "I want my husband to teach me."

Even though hearing those words pouring from Hinata's lips made joy unlike any he'd ever felt before bubble up inside his chest, Gaara still felt fear and caution swell into his throat, trying to choke him. "No, Hinata. Please don't ask me to-"

Her small, gentle hand landing on his cheek silenced him swiftly and effectively. "You will not hurt me."

He flinched. When did I become so transparent? Looking down into her eyes, which seemed to see all the way down into the deepest, darkest parts of him, he then had to wonder if he was really transparent, or if he was only so to her. "You can't know that." Even now he always trained alone, practicing his kata in a room by himself and his sparring with an invisible partner which had no flesh to pierce or blood to spill. He knew he could not trust himself, least of all with Hinata's safety. One moment - even the briefest millisecond - of inattention on his part...

The monster deep inside him, which had been so silent for so long he'd almost thought it dead and gone, wakened slightly and purred happily at the thought.

"No!" Gaara wrenched himself away from his gentle, vulnerable wife, clenching his suddenly clammy hands into fists at his side. "I cannot trust myself, Hinata. I will not take the chance of hurting you."

Hinata smiled at him again - trustingly, guilelessly, breathtakingly. "You won't hurt me." The confidence in her voice nearly floored him.

"You cannot guarantee that." As much as he hated the words, they were the truth. He'd had to face it before, but it had never hurt as much as it did now. Even though he knew Hinata was almost more at risk from him than anyone else, he didn't like the thought of having to entrust her learning to someone else. He wanted to be able to teach her himself, but it was a bad idea, and he knew it.

Didn't mean he had to like it, though...

Stepping up to him again, Hinata took his hand in hers and smiled peacefully up into his tortured face. "If you won't trust yourself, then," she said simply, "please trust me."

Gaara's resolve faltered. He could feel it shaking, crumbling, collapsing in the face of his wife's unshakeable courage and trust. He thought he would be able to keep denying her this, to continue to say no even when she begged him.

The problem? She didn't beg him. She didn't have to. She knew him far too well - well enough to know he wouldn't cave to such childish attempts. No, instead she attacked his resolve with quiet strength and confidence: her own personally created and honed weapon - and the one thing against which he had abolutely no defense.

Eight minutes later, he found himself standing in the middle of the training room in which Hinata had found him, Itachi, and Temari on an early morning what felt like forever ago. He was still quite unsure of exactly how he'd gotten there.

Hinata, once again her bouncy, excited self, grinned at him. "Okay, what do I do first?"

Even though he had agreed to teach her, Gaara still resolved he wasn't going to get anywhere near her, let alone touch her. "Kata," he said firmly.

His wife wilted slightly. "Forms?" she inquired dubiously.

"Forms," Gaara agreed definitively. "It is the place at which all students wishing to learn the ninja way begin. Kata teach us the basic moves which we require to put into practice later, whether we are fighting one enemy or a dozen. It equips us with the tools we will continue to use long after we've graduated from the basic steps." Tucking his hands behind his back in a further effort to behave himself, Gaara began to pace back and forth in front of his wife. "Continued practice of your kata will help carve these movements into your memory, make them second nature. Eventually, you won't even have to think about it. When an attacker comes at you, you will simply react with the required movement to defend yourself." He almost added and then take out your enemy, but decided he'd rather not plant that idea in her head.

It was something his father would say. Gaara was many, many things, but he was not, nor would he ever be, his father.

Even through the thick, insulated walls, a sudden sharp howl of wind sounding from outside acted as sharp punctuation at the end of his vow.

Step by step, Gaara demonstrated the movements of the most basic kata to Hinata. To his surprise, she picked them up quickly, and within an hour she was able to move through them fluidly without any prompting from him whatsoever.

As the two took a break to sit quietly for a moment, drink some water, and catch their breaths, Gaara studied Hinata out of the corner of his eye. Her lithe, graceful body enabled her to move with an ease which turned the sharp, quick movements which were so intimately familiar to him into something completely new. When he did them, it really did feel like he was on the attack. However, when Hinata performed the kata, she looked as if she were dancing.

Capping her water bottle, Hinata smoothly rose to her feet. "I want to try something," she said vaguely. Stepping out once more to the center of the floor, she settled into the starting stance Gaara had showed her before, closing her eyes.

Instead of starting out with the kata, as Gaara had expected, Hinata began to move in an unfamiliar form. As he watched, he began to recognize bits and pieces of it - she was actually doing the kata he'd shown her, but she was adding different moves to it. The new moves complimented the old, weaving in and out as seamlessly as if they'd been there the whole time. She hesitated once or twice, as if to think about what to do next, but even then, every move she made looked flawless and natural.

When she returned to her starting stance, a wide smile overtook Hinata's face. "It worked!"

"What was that?" Gaara asked, awed by his wife's display.

A hint of pink brushed across Hinata's cheekbones. "I added in the moves Neji taught me," she admitted shyly. "I was thinking about it while we were sitting there, and as I did, I b-began to realize the Hyuuga techniques and those of the k-kata were somewhat similar."

She was able to combine two different styles into one kata flawlessly - and only an hour or so after first learning the basic moves! Gaara never would have thought his wife would be such a natural at martial arts.

Perhaps there was something to the rumors floating around the ninja world. Not about the ultimate Hyuuga technique, of course, but what he'd just seen did make him wonder if Hinata had some sort of latent talent actually in her blood which made her a natural at learning ninja techniques. "You are amazing."

The pink in Hinata's cheeks flamed into bright red. "Wh-What?"

Rising, Gaara went to take Hinata's hands in his and smile down at her, more excited than he'd been in a while. "I have never seen anyone else do what you just did, and certainly not that quickly! I've seen people who seem to have been born natural ninja - Matsuri is a good example - but I've never seen someone catch on to moves so quickly, and then be able to weave in a seperate style so flawlessly on top of that." He tilted his head slightly, still astonished at what he'd just seen. "You're still a ways from being ready to go up against someone in one-on-one combat, of course," he hurried to add, just in case she was getting any ideas. "But you are a natural at this." I never would have believed it had I not just witnessed it with my own eyes.

Hinata looked down at their joined hands, her smile slowly creeping back onto her face. "So are we ready to move on to sparring now?" She sounded far too hopeful.

"Not yet." Leaning forward, Gaara swiftly kissed her forehead, relieved when her crestfallen expression had eased by the time he leaned back. "But if I have time tomorrow, I promise we'll go through a few basic movements to ready you for sparring."

Even though he still felt uncertain about attempting to spar with her, her smile rewarded him for his being willing to step out and take a chance on letting her trust enough for both of them.

Fewer than twenty-four hours after the sandstorm finally blew itself out, the new year dawned in Suna with very little fanfare, at least in the Sabaku household. Though in past years a great feast was held to celebrate and many people from outside the main house were invited to share in the festivities - including the Council and other prominent members of Suna's oldest clans - this year a quiet meal, shared only by the members of the family, served as the Sabaku clan's only celebration. It was a break in tradition, but the change was explained away as the Sabaku wanting to have a quiet, private holiday with the newest member of the household, Hinata.

Every few meetings, Gaara brought up the subject of the Sabaku children law with the Council. He always managed to make its mention sound casual, as though he were not personally invested in its outcome. Though the Council were still not changing their minds, a few of them appeared to be softening slightly, which gave everyone - particularly Temari and Hinata - renewed hope.

Hinata's days were once more spent in the library, investigating the seemingly endless number of tomes. She felt reasonably confident in skipping those labeled fiction and concentrated on the books which looked the oldest, dating back to the birth of the village. Some, she found, dated back even before that, and offered her glimpses into the mindsets of the men who had eventually founded Suna - and their forefathers who had influenced their violent, at times even irrational, decisions.

Sometimes Hinata was alone in her searching. The rest of the time, Itachi and Temari took turns joining her, always making sure they were never seen coming to or going from the library. Though none of them had made any headway yet in their ongoing search, they were doing a fairly reasonable job helping each other remain upbeat and positive about finding something which would assist them in at last talking down the Council.

On the fifth day of the new year, the eagerly awaited news from Konoha finally arrived in the form of two scrolls - one for Gaara and one for Hinata. The former's, from Kankuro, assured all remained quiet in the village thus far. They did not, however, let their guards down because of this fact, remaining highly alert for any signs of aggression from the Akatsuki. Since solid intelligence regarding the mysterious organization's numbers had yet to be found, all members of Konoha's military and ninja populace were on call day and night. With the additional numbers provided by Suna, everyone felt reasonably certain an attack by the Akatsuki would be relatively easy to overcome.

Hinata's letter, from Neji, proved to be of a far more personal nature. He and Tenten had managed to prove everything written in Hanzou's suicide letter - including Hiashi's hara-kiri. In addition to their anticipation of an attack by the Akatsuki, the Hyuuga remained alert for any signs of infiltrators in the village who might come after Neji to capture the rumored "ultimate technique." All had been quiet so far, but they weren't taking any chances.

After Neji had given his salutations and signed the letter, Tenten added a postscript, undoubtedly in an attempt to help lighten the mood of the scroll's otherwise grim contents. She shared the happy fact her clothes were beginning to feel tight around the waistline, and their mutual friends were already taking bets about the baby's gender. Everyone seemed split down the middle, half the group anticipating a boy, the other a girl. Tenten found the situation quite funny; Neji, on the other hand, frowned and declared the practice immature and unnecessary.

On the whole, Hinata found she agreed with Neji, though she was unsurprised about their friends' actions. It seemed a good idea to have something exciting to anticipate when the mood in the village otherwise remained very grim and solemn - at least for those part of the ninja world.

An additional postscript after Tenten's proved to be from Hanabi. Still unaware of her and Hinata's true relation, she kept the topic light, speaking mostly of her ongoing education - her etiquette classes were boring, but her music lessons were beginning to grow on her - and her excitement about her new cousin. She also mentioned meeting a "rather interesting boy" in the village, promising to update Hinata on further developments in the next correspondence. She signed her own postscript "Your sister, Hanabi," which drove a fresh stake of pain through Hinata's heart.

Rolling up the scroll, she set it aside to answer later. At the moment, she felt far too heartsick to do so, especially since she wished her own sentiments to sound sincere and lighthearted in return.

Though she loved Hanabi no less deeply as her cousin than she did as her sister, Hinata couldn't shake her bone-deep fear that Hanabi would not feel the same way if she were to learn the truth. The girl's explosion during Hiashi's wake had planted that niggling seed of doubt in Hinata's mind, and now she couldn't shake it, no matter how hard she tried.

After dinner that same evening, Gaara announced he had a rare night off from his duties, so he and Hinata retired to their suites early. Though they spent a few minutes sharing notes about the scrolls they had received from Konoha earlier in the day, their conversation quickly tapered off into comfortable silence. Hinata stretched out on a cushion, resting her head in Gaara's lap while he read to her from a book he'd retrieved from the library earlier.

Closing her eyes, Hinata allowed herself to get absorbed in the story while she enjoyed listening to her husband's deep, husky voice paint mental pictures of each scene in her mind. His reading aloud was reserved just for her, and Hinata locked each experience away in her heart, treasuring each one as yet another in an ever-growing number of wonderful moments in their marriage. Though she still felt anxious about whether or not she actually carried a child within her (as Gaara had said, their attempts were certainly numerous, and she had a good feeling tonight would be no exception), she also appreciated the way each adversity they faced brought them closer together.

Even though she and Gaara hadn't had another chance to go through kata and introduce her to more advanced moves in preparation for sparring, every day Hinata continued to practice everything Gaara had taught her so far. Sometimes before they went to bed, Gaara would teach her another move - little things, but ones which further helped her hone her natural gift. The new activity, done together, also served to strengthen their ties to, and their love for, each other.

Back when she'd first come to Suna, Hinata had imagined the rest of her days would be filled with fear and misery. How wrong she had been - and never had she been happier to be proven so wrong.

Hours later, with Gaara's soft breathing at her side to serve as a lullaby, Hinata happily drifted on the very edges of sleep. She felt content, like all the problems in her life had vanished at her husband's first touch. It would all come rushing back in the morning, naturally, but for tonight, she was happy to let bygones be bygones and her dreams be sweet. Matching her own breaths to Gaara's, Hinata allowed sleep to claim her...

...And woke an indeterminate time later to a pressing urge which wouldn't be denied. Moaning softly, Hinata gently extricated herself from her husband's warm, comfortable embrace, pausing long enough to murmur to him reassuringly when he started to wake. Slipping from bed once his breathing evened out again, she absently donned a robe as she padded barefoot to the facilities. Leaving the light off in hopes the darkness would help her stay sleepy enough so she could fall right back into dreamland when she returned to bed, she felt her way across the small room by lightly trailing her hand against the wall, well used to the routine by now. Her suite in Suna had become as familiar to her as the one she'd grown up with in Konoha, and she could find her way around now even in pitch darkness.

Suddenly Hinata spun around, lunging for the light switch with a harsh cry. Light flooded the room, momentarily blinding and disorienting her. She backed against the wall, bouncing off it hard enough to leave her shoulder throbbing, before coming to a gasping, off-balance halt.

The door opened only a few moments later, so hard it nearly jumped its track. Gaara stood in its frame, red hair sleep-tousled, green eyes wild, as he took in her stricken face and otherwise empty room in one quick, professional sweep. He seemed to comprehend the situation immediately, and the fight visibly drained out of him, his expression morphing into pained understanding.

Together they stared at the thin trails of blood snaking down her legs, each knowing what its presence meant:

Hinata's time had come early, undoubtedly brought on by stress and her abnormal activities over the past few days. It was the undeniable proof they'd been waiting for; at the same time, it proved to be a horrible, wrenching disappointment which they would, inevitably, have to share with Temari and Itachi.

She was not pregnant. And the law - that cursed, horrible, deplorable law - was still in effect.

Gaara held her as she wept bitterly - not just for her own disappointment and failure, but in fear as well.

What will happen to Temari and her child now? Another, selfish, thought chased the first, bringing with it an entirely new fear. And what if I cannot get pregnant? If I am sterile...

The new fear found a foothold in her heart and clung stubbornly.

Just when she thought her life in Suna couldn't get much better, it had been yanked out from beneath her in just about as harsh a manner as possible. With the presence of her new fear, Hinata found she had to face yet another truth.

If I am sterile, Gaara will not be able to gain an heir from me. He will be forced to divorce me, and... The thought was nearly too horrible to finish, but her mind supplied the remaining words anyway.

...And I will never be able to see him again.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: You all are going to kill me now, I just know it... But I promise, I still have a plan! Even though it appears to have become something normal for me to update early now, I still hope you enjoy this "early" update - and that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you again for the next update!