Hi everyone!

I have a few spare moments so I figured that I would update as promised.

All copyright goes to Kishimoto Sensei!

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Now onward my dears!


Three days had passed since she returned to Konoha and it was total hell. A messenger hawk from Suna had delivered the terrible news of Matsuri's escape and Gaara was at a complete loss for what to do. His siblings had informed him that search parties were all over the country but no sign of her had been discovered yet.

Hinata was extremely concerned not only for her sister, but now for her husband as well. She knew that she couldn't allow herself to worry, the stress from her body could potentially hurt her unborn child and God forbid that she lose her baby over a crisis.

Gaara had wanted to return to Suna right away with his wife. But Kankuro had insisted that he stay in Konoha until any kind of evidence was found. The last thing that Kankuro and Temari wanted to happen was to have their younger brother fretting over his ex-apprentice, not when he had a baby coming. The Kazekage had other matters that needed his attention besides this.

Hanabi had thankfully been spared since her older sister arrived. With her presence Hiashi had not touched her; but that didn't mean anything had changed. Hanabi was smart enough to know that the moment Hinata left the beatings would once again begin. Hiashi would play nice around her feed her lies and false promises. She was no fool, she knew what he was planning. Hanabi was currently trying to let her sister accept the truth about Hiashi's eventual death by her hands; Hinata didn't approve of it at all. And there were times when Hanabi found herself rather frustrated with her sister. As a ninja, Hinata had her share of trials over the years but she was much too kind for her own good. Death was not something that came naturally for her and that was what Hanabi wished wouldn't be a weakness that her sister held onto.

Gaara paced down one of the hallways mumbling angrily to himself. He didn't want to be here, he should be in Suna personally handling the problem. Matsuri was resourceful and clever, she wasn't the kind of person that wouldn't give in through pressure.

Of all the times for a situation too happen. The red head paced faster with his brow deepening. He was fully aware of his wife's concern for him and he knew that he had to stay calm for her sake as well as his baby's. But he couldn't help it.

"Lord Gaara".

"Hyuga Neji what is it?" Gaara wouldn't exactly be called friends with his wife's cousin. But at the same time he didn't dislike him either. They had established a rather odd bond in the past few days. But he did trust the Hyuga enough to leave Hinata in his care when needed.

"Follow me please".

The red head didn't say a word as he walked with Neji to one of Konoha's training grounds. Everything about the village was open and exposed, such a huge contrast to Suna where places like these often were indoors due to the weather. Still he didn't complain, Konoha wasn't his home after all.

"Are you ready?" The white-eyed male shifted his posture into a fighting stance. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow out of curiosity.

"Explain". He said flatly, as the sand in his gourd moved around a bit. "Spar with me my lord". It didn't take rocket science to understand what he meant by that and in an instant the two were going at each other.

Gaara was honestly surprised when Neji showed that he was able to keep up with his sand. The Hyuga had really good stamina. And his byakugan was very interesting. Neither of them had any intensions for hurting each other, this was simply a method to relive some of the stress that had built up inside of him; one that he often found very useful.

The Hyuga male suddenly stopped "Gaara-sama if I may ask how well are you at hand to hand combat?"

A chuckle left his throat as he suddenly swung his right leg up and brought it down, Neji thankfully moved out of the way before it made contact.

"Quite skilled, I've been practicing". Once again Neji adjusted into a fighting stance "Come then". The two males then had at it. Each of whom tried to touch the other without being hit; Gaara was not the only one in need of a stress release. Neji was going through his own issues as well.

Hanabi was still refusing to reconsider her decision; this put him in a very difficult position. He didn't have much time left before his cousin made her move and if he didn't do something soon the clan would fall. Hinata had promised that she would do what she could but even she may not be able to handle this unless by some miracle Hanabi came to her senses.

A few hours later and both males were exhausted. They both felt a lot better now that they had released all that stress that had been eating them up inside. But that still didn't mean the problem had gone away.

Gaara wiped the sweat from his brow as he slowly sat down on the cool grass. Neji followed suit and for a moment all was quiet as they restored their breath.

Neji would admit that Gaara made a good sparring partner. He certainly didn't make things easy.

"Hyuga-san I want to return to my village with my wife".

Neji bit the inside of his cheek. "Gaara-sama I understand, but with the situation at hand I think that-". "I must return at once, I'm sure that you've been informed of the crisis". "Yes of course but-" "Then why is your leader refusing to let us leave?".

Neji took a moment to push some of his hair out of his face before speaking. "He merely wants to flatter you, he wants to leave a good impression on the Hyuga name. Hiashi-sama never cared for honesty and he wants you to think that our way of life is better. Your marriage to Hinata-sama has only increased his pride for our clan. I am well aware that Hiashi knows of Sunakaure's situation but I fear as though his thoughts for the clan are more important".

Gaara let out a low sound in the back of his throat. That just made him resent Hiashi a little bit more now.

"Do you love my cousin?"

"Yes". He didn't even hesitate, though he was not expecting that. "May I ask you one question?" Gaara nodded "Speak" his voice sounded full of authority. "Why did you choose Hinata-sama when you were searching for a wife?"

Neji had always been somewhat baffled as to why Gaara wanted Hinata. His cousin was a woman of elegance and class and he felt rather bad now about his behavior towards her when he first learned of her marriage.

"I remembered her from a long time ago. We were in the second round of the chunnin exams". Neji nodded at the memory, flashbacks of his battle with his cousin from long ago filled his head. He regretted everything now; but he didn't know any better back then.

"I was blind to my own foolishness". The young male had a rather sad look in his eyes "I never truly hated Hinata-sama just everything she represented. My father is the younger twin brother of Hiashi and I grew envious that Hinata was given everything that my father wanted for me". Neji was confused with himself as too why he was telling something very personal to the Kazekage. Not even Tenten knew about this and she was the one who knew practically everything about him.

"You sought something you could never have". "Hmm?" Gaara was staring out into the distance "You wanted to experience the same feelings that Hinata had. But you were so consumed by the bitterness of greed that you didn't look deep enough to see the light in the depths of darkness".

His teal eyes met with white ones. "I was like that once...but I'm a changed person".

Neji simply nodded "I made a promise to Hinata-sama after that, I would protect her no matter what. If I couldn't be there for her then, I can be there for her now".

Both of them stood up. "I entrust my cousin's safety to you. Do not let anything happen to her". Gaara only looked at him "I assure you Hinata is perfectly safe in my care. I love her Hyuga-san and she is pregnant with my child, I would have to meet death first before I let something happen to her".

Neither of them said a word as they walked back to the Hyuga mansion.


I'm sorry that this chapter is short but I didn't have time to make it longer.

Next time I'll try to add more, but the next chapter will have to wait a while; I'll update when I have another moment.

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Until next time!