Hello to everyone!

Thank you for being so patient with me. I've had so much work to do since it's that time of year when stuff needs constant attention. But I'm going to try and put a new chapter up sooner, maybe by the end of this week if I get some reviews.

So now onwards my dears!


Chapter 5:

Hanabi couldn't think of a time when she had wanted nothing more than to murder her father. She was still angry that her older sister was married to the Kazekage. It had been a little over a month and she had heard nothing, it was driving her crazy. Hinata had promised before she left that she would write to her as soon as she was settled. Hanabi had to reason with herself that it takes time to adjust to a married life, but surly Hinata would've done something about it by now. Life hadn't been the same since her sister left, Hanabi hated the fact that she was the next heir to the Hyuga name. That title should've gone to Hinata, her sister had worked so hard to earn respect among their clan and Hanabi knew that Hinata would've been a great leader if she had been given a chance to prove herself.

While Hanabi was accustomed to her clan's expectations, she really didn't want to have the burden placed on her. Hanabi was not one to argue in certain situations but she was just so angry that everything in her life had changed in an instance. She had tried talking to Neji, but he was just as angry as her. In Hanabi's opinion Neji should be clan leader but being a branch member of the family only proved pointless. One simply couldn't erase years of tradition that had been passed down through generations in the Hyuga name.

Surprisingly the person who she least expected to help her get through her troubles was Shikamaru. When Hinata had first left, he had been the one to sooth her agony and wipe away her tears. Hanabi knew that Neji was friends with Shikamaru but she would've have expected the Nara to be a source of comfort for her and Neji. That man, had it own problems to worry about. But nevertheless Shikamaru had proved to be very helpful for the young Hyuga and having him around did make Hanabi feel a little better.

"Hanabi you are not focused".

She had been training with her father for hours now and she was exhausted. But Hiashi wouldn't allow her to rest, in his mind since Hanabi was now the entire future for the Hyuga she needed to be invincible.

Her white eyes narrowed in anger as she attacked once again. Sparing with Hiashi was doing nothing but fuelling her anger even more. The man was stubborn, harsh and drove her over the edge. When she spared with her sister, Hanabi could almost admit that it was actually fun.

Hinata was also tough, but she had a more challenging side that made you want to see how far you, could go before she found your defenses and took you down. Even with her byakugan activated Hanabi was still struggling to hold her ground. She was tired making her attacks weaker. Her emotions were in a swarm right at the moment, all she really wanted to do with strike her father's heart when he continued barking orders at her.

When she missed Hiashi took the opportunity to strike her down and she landed hard. "Get up!" Hanabi tired to stand but fell back down. Her body could take no more, she had reached her limit; if she went any further she would collapse.

"Get up! The future clan leader does not show weakness!"

Hanabi once again tried to move, but she fell down cutting her knee in the process. It was over, she knew what would happen next.

Hiashi scowled at his youngest child "Pathetic! You're weak! I never would've thought that you'd turn out like your sister, she's a disgrace to the Hyuga name and now you are too. Had you been stronger you never would've disappointed me-"

"Shut up!" Hanabi had hot tears burn her cheeks as she looked at her father with such hatred. "You shut up! I don't want to hear anymore from you. Hinata is strong, all she ever wanted was to prove that she was worthy. That's why no matter how many times you knocked her down, no matter how many times you insulted her she got back up and tried again". Hanabi no longer cared what her father thought, she hated him and nothing would change that.

"I never wanted to be clan leader, that job respectfully goes to my sister. You refused to acknowledge her true strength, and you're afraid to be seen as weak if you made Nee-chan the leader". Hiashi simply looked at her with shock; Hanabi knew that she had hit a weak spot and on the inside she was laughing about it.

Hiashi's face turned red in rage "Ungrateful brat!" In a fit of fury, Hiashi beat Hanabi multiple times, severing her chakra system, breaking a few bones and nearly puncturing her skull. Hanabi couldn't help but cry out as she received the beating that her sister had taken so many times before. Too weak to fight back all she could do was hope that it would end soon. Hiashi then strangled his youngest daughter before roughly throwing her to the floor. "You have shamed our family name...learn your place in the presence of authority". Hiashi then left her in the dirt to wallow in agony from her injuries.

Hanabi looked up at the sky through tear stained eyes. Hinata used to look up at the same sky and tell her so many things. Her beloved sister was gone, and now she was the one who would suffer everything that had originally been meant for Hinata. Before she passed out, Hanabi had to laugh from the irony of it all.


Gaara was actually getting annoyed with Matsuri's antics. Since marrying Hinata, his good for nothing apprentice had been nothing but trouble. Twice he had caught her threatening his wife and twice he had stopped it. But he knew that sooner or later things were going to get out of hand if he didn't do something about it. He simply couldn't understand for the likes of him, how Matsuri hadn't figured out that he was a married man with no interest in her whatsoever. It was ridiculous, but the woman was stubborn and refused to take no for an answer. He sighed deeply as he tried to concentrate on his work.

His relationship with his wife, was slowly getting stronger. Hinata was a wonderful person that had changed his life in so many ways. He was not used to a gentle touch, but that was slowly changing the more he got closer to Hinata. In such a short time she had grown to love Suna and all its glory and it seemed as though everywhere she went people were always in a much friendlier mood. It had him happy that his people had accepted her, and while it may have only been a little while Gaara was positive that he was starting to fall in love with Hinata.

Supposedly the phrase 'opposites attract' worked very well in his case. While he couldn't exactly declare his love for her just yet, he suspected that it would definitely happen in the near future they simply needed more time was all.

Gaara eventually realized that he had been staring at his papers for about twenty minutes now. His mind had been so caught up on his wife. He mentally groaned, this was becoming a regular thing now. Hinata would enter his mind and he would become so preoccupied with his thoughts he'd completely forget that his work was waiting for him. At least it showed that Hinata had a hold on him of some sort.

"Gaara-sama you look stressed".

His head snapped up when he heard a voice. It was not the voice of his wife, but of his damn apprentice. Matsuri had a smug look on her face as she stared at him with lust filled eyes.

When had she come in here?

Gaara looked over the wall clock, had it really been that late? The sun had set ages ago, he had been sitting in office for hours now. Gaara's face held his usual stoic expression, but a frown was beginning to make its appearance "What do you want?" He still didn't know how he didn't hear her come in but all he wanted was to leave. Though his face didn't show it; he was surprised when Matsuri started to laugh, she continued to laugh until tears were apparent. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow briefly wondering if the woman had lost her mind.

Matsuri got a hold of her laughter as she wiped some tears away. "Gaara-sama, you sure are funny. I love a man that can make me laugh".

She resumed her lust filled stare. "I want you". The tone of her voice made him cringe in disgust. His eyes didn't leave hers as he stood up. "If you excuse me I must leave now I have to attend to my wife". He started to walk away by before he could reach the door Matsuri grabbed his arm. "Gaara-sama wouldn't you rather stay here?" she purred as she moved her body closer to his.

Matsuri knew what she might do next could be fatal, but her anger towards Hinata had reached a point where she was trying to seduce the Kazekage for her own enjoyment. She normally would've never gone this low, but she was desperate and this was her only option.

"Wouldn't you rather have a little fun with me?" She removed her shirt, with a playful smirk on her face. Gaara's eyes widened only a fraction as his apprentice displayed her bare chest to him. But he was disgusted despite his heart beat's pace. Gaara merely shook his head. "Enough of this Matsuri". He tried to walk away again, but Matsuri once again grabbed him and wrapped her arms around his neck "Come on Gaara. There's no one here it's just you and me, why not have a bit of fun". Her hands massaged his shoulders which only increased Gaara's disgust. At this point he wanted to engulf her with sand, but he wouldn't act yet.

"Get off me!" He pushed her away. Before throwing her shirt at her head. "Dress yourself Matsuri and stop this nonsense". Gaara was pissed now and everyone knew to stay away from his when he was pissed, but apparently Matsuri didn't get the memo.

"Gaara-sama?" He chewed his lip in anger, it was time to teach her a lesson. No one seduces the Kazekage without punishment. He quickly turned around and his hand made contact with her face. Matsuri stumbled back a bit in shock clutching her sore cheek before her eyes narrowed.

"What is it Gaara-sama! Why won't you love me!" Matsuri quickly put on her shirt all while fuming with anger. "What do you possibly see in her! Why can't you see me in that way!". Gaara sighed and folded his arms as a few guards entered the room, apparently they heard the raising voice of Matsuri's from outside. "Take her away, I don't associate with sluts".

Both guards looked very surprised. "Come again Gaara-sama?"

The red head simply kept his stoic face. "Matsuri tried to seduce me". He used his hand to motion for the guards to remove her from his office and after a moment's hesitation they did just that. Matsuri was in total rage, as she struggled to break free.

She couldn't believe that her Gaara had brushed her off. Didn't he know how much she loved him?! She had always loved him from the beginning. She had told him on many occasions that she wanted his love in return, but he always dismissed her. Matsuri figured that Gaara didn't understand completely what love was and naturally would wait for him to sort out his feelings for her. But then everything changed when that Hyuga girl came into the picture. In the blink of an eye she had Gaara wrapped around her finger and kissing her feet.

That should be her by his side. It should be her that he kisses. It should be her that he gives all his love too, Matsuri couldn't understand how that bitch had managed to get to Gaara before she did, it simply didn't make sense to her. She continued to carry on in fury as she was dragged from the office. Matsuri knew that Hinata was the root of all her problems and one way or another Hinata was going to pay for stealing Gaara was away from her.

Gaara stood where he was for a long time after that. He really didn't need this, he had known that Matsuri was crazy but to think she'd try and seduce him out of sheer desperation; it was absurd. Utterly insane. Gaara knew that Hinata was in trouble when it came to Matsuri. He had given him the first signs that she hated his marriage to her; it was going to be tough but he couldn't lose Hinata.

She was still his wife. And it was a husband's job to protect their spouse no matter what. "Shit" he mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. Everything just seemed to have gotten harder at that moment, and he really didn't know what to do about it. His mind eventually told him that he needed to find Hinata. So he finally left his office and took long strides to find her on one of the balconies that overlooked the village.

Gaara was temporarily distracted when he noticed how the moonlight brought out her indigo locks. He had to admit that his wife was beautiful but now wasn't the time to be mushy.

"Hinata?" She turned around hearing her husband's voice and smiled "Gaara-dana I'm so happy to see you". Since being married Hinata would occasionally call him by the honorific in a affectionate way, she really liked Gaara and she was trying to make a point to show it.

The red head made his way over to his wife. "Hinata...we need to talk" she looked confused "About what?" Gaara wasted no time in telling him what had happened in his office. As he predicated Hinata was in total shock; she knew that Matsuri didn't like her, but she couldn't help this feeling on anger inside of her. Gaara was her husband, and Matsuri had the nerve to try and seduce him.

Hinata could feel her anger rising. No one had that right to do that to her husband, the nerve of that woman!

Gaara waited calmly for his wife's response. Of course he would take action and prevent another thing like this from happening but he needed to hear Hinata's opinion first before he did anything else.

After a minute or so, Hinata had finally calmed down and looked her husband in the eye. "Gaara-dana, I would like to request that Matsuri be watched over. I...I don't want to lose you. Your very kind to me and I could never forgive myself if I let something happen to you. Please do not let Matsuri get away with it". Hinata couldn't afford to let herself become weak for Matsuri, she had a hunch that this would only lead to something else. And while Hinata was strong enough to handle whatever it was that came at her. She was very worried for Gaara, having known Matsuri longer then she had made things a bit harder for him. It would haunt her if he got hurt in the process.

She was surprised when Gaara gave her a gentle kiss. "As you wish, I will not let her harm my wife I won't allow it".

Hinata's kind smile return. Oh, how this man was starting to take a hold on her heart. Hinata never knew that Gaara could be so caring towards her. In a way he was mending the heartache that had taken her months to recover from, and for that she was ever so grateful. As she embraced him, Hinata could only hope that they could make it in the trials ahead.


Yes I know that I made Matsuri a bit of a slut. But it's important for the aspect of the story, I plan not to have too much lovely dovey stuff going on, but there will some moments here and there.

Reviews are as always welcome, no flames please!

Until next time everyone!