Hi peps!

I'm back with another chapter.

I've been really stressed with school work and a Shakespeare production, but as promised here's the newest chapter. Please read and review!

Now onwards my dears!


It was just before dawn but they had been traveling all night.

Gaara had left with his wife and sister-in-law without a single word to anyone. Upon his request Neji would deliver a message to Naruto about his sudden departure with the assumption that he was needed back in Suna for political matters. Of course Neji had seen them off and had promised to keep an eye on Hiashi; but he was happy that at least for now Hanabi was safe.

The red-head looked to his sleeping wife resting on his sand. She needed to take it easy for a while, the baby needed to be healthy. His child was the next possible future ruler of Suna and for everyone's sake Hinata couldn't lose their heir.

Hanabi walked quietly beside him at a respectful distance. She was going to stick close to her older sister for protection. Hanabi's only reason for following Hinata to Suna was for her own safety, anyone who had the guts to harm her would suffer greatly at her hands. "It will take a few days to reach the village" "I see". Gaara's eyes shifted towards her "I will make sure that nothing happens to Hinata I give you my word". He knew that Hanabi was testing him, he may be Hinata's husband but Hanabi had no idea who Gaara was. Sure, she respected him as her brother-in-law and the ruler of Sunagakure but she didn't have a good grasp on his character.

"I trust your judgment Lord Gaara".

She had said it to be polite, but she certainly thought that she was capable of handling her sister herself.

Gaara's eyes slowly drifted downwards to a few wounds on Hanabi's neck, his right brow twitched slightly in rage. No one should ever have to deserve that kind of torture. He had known that the Hyuga upheld their reputation but he never thought that this would be a price.

"Forgive me but we must keep moving". "Yes sir!" As the leapt through the trees Gaara clicked his tongue in annoyance; he desperately wanted to go faster to make it back ahead of time. But do to his wife's condition he had to force himself to slow down.

Hanabi hadn't attempted to speak to him in the six-day journey that it took to make it back. To be honest Gaara didn't try to approach her either. He figured that if his sister-in-law wanted to say something then it would be her choice he had other matters to deal with.

Eventually when they did reach the village he called home, a small part of him felt relieved that at last he could find sanctuary within the familiar walls of his living space.

Hanabi was curious about Suna, but she knew that exploring would have to wait. There were other things that needed attention.

Hinata was glad to be back home with her husband and she made a silent promise to keep an eye on her younger sister that currently held her hand as they followed Gaara to his office. "Lord Kazekage welcome home". He simply nodded at the greetings that the occasional guard would give. He didn't have time to deal with a homecoming. Instead he lead his wife to their bedroom before having her sit down. "Wait for me please, I will be back". He didn't need to explain himself any further she already knew what was going on in his mind. "I'll be waiting" Hinata smiled at him and he kissed her cheek before walking out of the room and started to look for his brother and sister to which he found in his office.

"Gaara?! Your back!"

"Tell me all that has happened".

Kankuro and Temari were most certainly not expecting to see their younger brother so soon. They had been planning to visit Konoha in a few days to inform him of the emergency but to have him back without any word given to them was something totally unexpected.

"Um...well you see w-we kinda weren't-"

"Temari explain what has happened in my absence". He didn't mean to sound bitter, but he needed details in order to do something.

According to the information that his siblings provided him with, Matsuri was pronounced dead. The examination the medics did on her body showed that she had died from dehydration and her mental illness. Gaara's brows lowered in confusion as he looked at the reports. Something just didn't add up in his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it for whatever reason.

"Are you sure these are accurate?"

"Yes, we received them two days ago. She really is dead Gaara, the charts can't lie".

The red-head thought for a moment. "Take me to her, I want to see for myself". His two older siblings didn't question their brother's reasoning's as they walked to the hospital. One might guess that Gaara was paranoid, but he always had a reason to back up anything that he did.

"Lord Kazekage how may we be of assistance?"

"Take me to Matsuri I want to see something for myself".

"But my Lord she is-"

"Please just do as I say". He was a little annoyed by the doctors but they quickly lead him to the room where Matsuri laid on a table with her eyes closed. It was strange to see that there were no monitors or buttons going; which almost had him thinking that his former apprentice truly was dead.

"As you can see Lord Gaara, she died about a week ago. We've been searching for any more evidence of her death but have come up empty handed".

He nodded slowly as he moved closer to her body. He wasn't exactly depressed about her death, sure he might have felt a twinge of grief deep down but after all that has happened, he couldn't find the compassion to feel anything for her not even hate. Gaara lifted her hand and felt her pulse, nothing. His sand searched for any trace of life within her but he didn't find anything.

"So she really is dead..." Gaara was still a bit puzzled and the unsettling voice in the far back of his head was still buzzing but he finally came to terms with reality that Matsuri was no longer among the living.

"See to it that she's given a burial, destroy all other evidence I wish to move on". Everyone looked surprised by how calm he sounded "As you wish Kazekage-sama".

Baki had been relived and confused at the same time with Gaara's sudden return. He had many questions to ask but Gaara refused to answer any of them. Baki was a little suspicious but he knew better then to push Gaara's buttons. He had been loyal to the Kazekage's forces for many years there was no way he'd break that trust.

The red-head was still troubled though, that little voice of doubt was still nagging him for whatever reason and it was driving him crazy. "Gaara try to relax Matsuri can't hurt Hinata she'd dead". "That's exactly what worries me, this could all just be a setup perhaps she wants me to think that she's dead so that she can strike when I'm least expecting it". Temari chewed her lower lip "Are you sure you're not being a little paranoid". Gaara looked at his older sister with a slight glare "Temari this is all concerning the future for my wife and child I don't worry over anything unless it concerns those I love". She raised an eyebrow "Gaara I think that your overreacting. You saw the charts, you saw her body there is no movement or sign of life whatsoever Matsuri has left us for good. She's stone cold never gonna come back".

Despite what his older sister had said Gaara still didn't seem convinced.

"Excuse me I must attend to my wife".

He was rather relived to be away from all the tension that had been driving him mad. If Matsuri truly was dead, then that meant there was one less threat to worry about for the sake of his family. But that certainly didn't mean that something else could occur; Gaara had always had sort of a sixth sense for these kinds of things. But it was still too early to see what would happen next.

"Hanabi everything will be fine".

She had been trying for twenty minutes now to convince her sister that she was safe. Under normal circumstances her younger sister would've believed her but Hanabi knew that their father was a stubborn man. He wouldn't take to kindly to the fact that she had disappeared so suddenly; she knew that at some point he would target Neji and squeeze every last detail out of him.

Neji had already done so much for her and Hinata as it was. She couldn't let Hiashi break him, the last thing she wanted was for one more person to suffer the way she had.

"Nee-chan I'm worried for Neji".

"So am I but I trust that he will handle things, you know how tough he is".

She did have a point there, Hyuga Neji was not considered a genius for nothing; she trusted that something would be done, and she would come back eventually to check on him. Hinata owed a lot to him and she would make sure that Neji would be cared for.

Subconsciously her hand rubbed her over abdomen where her baby was steadily growing. It would still be a while before she started to show, but she could already feel the signs that her child was getting bigger. Neji was not the only one that needed her care. Gaara's child was something she couldn't afford to lose no matter the cost. She was surprised that her baby had made it this far despite all the incidents that had accord in such a short amount of time. She almost thought that she lost her baby when her father struck her but it appeared that faith had other ideas concerning the future.

"What do you think it is?"

"Hm? Come again?"

"What do you think the baby is?"

Hinata looked a tad confused at her younger sister's unexpected question.

"Um...I'm really not sure, it's still too early to know but I'm happy with whatever gender the baby will be".

Hanabi gave a small smile, she was glad to know that Hinata was going to be a mother. She loved children and she knew that her future niece or nephew was going to be well cared for.

"What kind of hair color do you want it to have?"

The sudden change in topic was a welcome one, Hinata was relieved that for the moment they could forget about everything and act out their normal lives.

"I...I'm kinda hoping that it will b-be a redhead". A slight blush crept upon her cheeks; she really loved Gaara's hair and would love it if her son or daughter would inherit their father's hair color. Not that she wouldn't mind if it wasn't a redhead but for the most part she was secretly wishing that her child would have red hair it would be really cute.

Her younger sister laughed for a moment. "That would be something. You don't see too many redheads around".

Hinata blushed even more "T-that's true".

The conversation was interrupted when Gaara entered the room. He looked troubled about something. And Hinata knew this, she could see the look in his eyes.

"Hanabi-san if you would please wait a moment outside. I'll have someone escort you to your room in a few minutes".

Hinata smiled her younger sister "Please give us a minute Hanabi, I'll come back later". Hanabi nodded before she walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

"Gaara-dana is there something wrong?"

He stayed quiet for a few moments and Hinata moved closer to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "Gaara-dana please tell me what has happened". She didn't like to see her husband in this manner it made her feel like something would go wrong.

A few more moments passed before he sighed "Matsuri is dead". The news caught Hinata off guard, did she hear him right? "What was that?" Gaara looked into his wife's eyes "Matsuri is dead, she died a week ago. They found her body out in the desert it was her illness that did her in, as well as dehydration". Hinata didn't know what she was supposed to feel; grief? Anger? Relief? nothing came to her she just felt numb. It was a strange feeling of numbness that had taken over and she had no idea why.

"I feel the same".

Gaara could tell that his wife, was having a hard time understand what was going on inside of her and he wouldn't lie when he said that he felt the exact same way.

"I...I'm sorry but I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to feel. Matsuri was planning to kill me and-"

"Do not apologize you have done nothing wrong". He cupped her cheek "What Matsuri did was out of jealousy and in the end her selfishness eventually destroyed her. There was nothing that we could've done to stop this. Do not blame yourself for this I promise you that it's all over now".

He had half-lied to her, mainly because he knew that she would worry, and that was the last thing she needed to do for their baby's sake. Gaara hadn't told her about the new threat that he had a hunch would come. But even he didn't know if his suspicions were correct. All that he could do for now was wait and see what would happen.

"Gaara-dana I think that-"

He cut her off with a kiss. "It's okay we're going to be fine I promise".

His wife responded by pressing her lips against his once again. The sensation of lips molding against each other did them both some good; they needed to forget everything.

They continued to kiss for a minute longer when Hanabi quietly opened their door; her eyes widened seeing her sister engaged in a make-out with her husband but she smirked a bit to herself "Ahem". Both of them stopped kissing and Hinata's face burned with embarrassment, while Gaara's cheeks turned pink.

"Sorry, sorry but Nee-chan didn't you want to help me settle in".

"Y-yes I'm c-coming".

She gave a smile to Gaara giving him a kiss on the cheek before walking out of their bedroom to follow her sister down the hall.

The redhead then walked over and slowly sat down on his bed trying to comprehend all that had happened days ago. This was not going to be easy coming to terms that his wife needed his protection now more than ever. But he couldn't allow himself to go soft at such a critical time. Running a hand through his hair he laid down on his bed and sighed.


I hope you all liked this chapter.

I'm not sure if I'll have time next week to update.

I may have to update a little later due to other important things.

If I have a few spare moments I promise that I'll write something down.

But until then goodbye everyone!