S'up people!
Thank you all for waiting. I know that sometimes my chapters come late, but I always make sure to update whenever I have time.
Now onwards my dears!
Hinata stroked her swollen belly as her mind buzzed with thoughts. Hanabi had been living in Suna for about four months now. Things however did not settle down as she hoped they would. Hiashi was still furious that his youngest daughter had left and since her departure the Hyuga had been in a very difficult position. Since Hiashi had no heir to the main family. Neji had been secretly trying to get his uncle to let him take over instead. He knew that branch members had no say in matters concerning the clan but since Neji was the only available source around, if Hiashi knew what was good for him they he'd have agree.
A few times now Hinata had received hateful letters demanding that she return to Konoha with Hanabi; but each time she always refused she knew what would happen should she go back to Konoha.
At nearly five months pregnant Hinata already had her own issues to deal with. Her growing baby was keeping it's mother busy. The child was now starting to move around a bit which was a good sign. Yes, Hinata was very happy that her baby was on its way but that still didn't mean she could ignore what was already happening. A few weeks ago several witnesses claimed that they saw a woman who appeared to be Matsuri wandering the borders of the land of wind.
This of course put Gaara on the defense and increased security around the village.
She tried to convince her worrisome husband that Matsuri was gone for good; but Gaara being the person that he was letting his fears get the best of him and nowadays constantly made sure that his wife and the people were watched over for safety.
Hinata was pleasantly surprised when her baby made itself known. She giggled a little in happiness. It was a very welcome interruption from all her negative thoughts. "Nee-chan may I come in?" her head looked to the door of her study room, since being married Gaara had provided her with a quiet place where she could read or write it was a thoughtful gift that she appreciated.
"Come in Hanabi".
Her younger sister walked in looking quite dirty, she must've been out training again with Kankuro. Gaara's older siblings were at first bewildered as to why Hanabi was going to be staying with them but soon they both grew to love her. Hanabi had a feisty and playful attitude that made her the kind of person you'd love to challenge. It was almost a common sight to see her sparing with either one of the two older siblings in a friendly manner, she never made things easy for them. "Kankuro-san wanted to try out his newest puppet, it was really fun trying to dodge all those needles".
Hanabi's mental and physical health had also improved since coming to Suna. Her body had healed itself and she wasn't so bony and pale anymore. Hinata was pleased to know that her little sister was getting better. She was praying that Hanabi had forgotten about her decision to kill their father, that was the last thing either of them wanted to go back too.
"Hanabi you should go wash up".
"What for? a little dirt never hurt anyone".
"But you might make a mess".
Her sister laughed "I'm only teasing Nee-chan". She wiped her dirty hands on her already dusty shirt before walking a bit closer to her sister.
"Mind if I feel?"
Hinata shook her head and Hanabi placed her hand on her sister's swollen belly, smiling a bit when she felt signs of life going on inside her.
"She's really getting active".
"Hanabi please, it could also be a boy".
She had, had this argument a few times with her. Hanabi was completely convinced that her baby was a girl, however Hinata didn't know for sure as she and her husband decided to wait till the day of birth to find out what it was. But she didn't like how her sister jumped to conclusions so fast.
"No I'm pretty sure it's a girl, I have this hunch that it is".
Hinata gave a small sigh "Well if you say so, I just want the baby to be healthy".
"So what does lover boy think it is?"
Hanabi's nickname for Gaara was anything but complimentary. Neither she nor Gaara were fond of it, but Hanabi insisted that it was the perfect pet name for him seeing how he loved Hinata so much.
Her older sister huffed slightly at the terrible nickname making her grin a bit. "Gaara-dana is not sure either, but he will be happy with either gender the baby is".
"Speaking of which shouldn't you be spending time with him instead of being locked in here".
"Well I-"
"Nee-chan you know how much he worries, you gotta go and settle him down use your feminine wiles to help sooth him or something". Hinata blushed deeply at her sister's words, at times Hanabi could be very blunt with her language when she wanted to be.
Her younger sister took her hand and practically dragged her down the hall.
"Hanabi do not be so hasty Gaara-dana could be working".
"So what, what you both need is some loving. You've been all worried and stuff like that it's making it feel sorry for you". Hinata tried to protest some more, but Hanabi wouldn't hear of it; she dragged her pregnant sister all the way to Gaara's office not bother to knock as she entered. The red-head looked up from his paper work to see his flustered wife and a smirking Hanabi. He raised an invisible eye-brow in confusion "Hanabi-san what is this?"
"Well..." Hanabi's smirk grew some more "Nee-chan was wondering if you wanted to spend some time her. She's been missing you lately, and she needs to feel loved".
Hinata's face burned red "Hanabi!"
Gaara still looked confused as his eyes focused on his wife "Is this true? I had no idea".
Hinata opened her mouth to speak but Hanabi beat her too it "Of course you didn't your too busy working to notice your poor neglected wife. Goodness Gaara can't you be a loving husband, aren't you supposed to fulfill her needs".
Hinata's face was no so red it was a miracle blood had not come out of her ears, why did her sister have to be like this it was so humiliating.
Gaara nodded slowly still a little dumbfounded "I...suppose I could have Baki take over for a while". He stood up from his chair and walked over taking his wife in his arms.
Hanabi did a little happy dance in her head. She loved it when things went her way. There were times when she did worry for her sister and she wanted to make sure that she was cared for.
"Don't worry I'll inform Baki you go and have some fun" she teased as she proceeded to push them out of the office.
"Have fun Nee-chan with lover-boy!"
Once away from the office Hinata looked up at her husband trying to find the words for an explanation. "I-I'm so s-sorry but Hanabi is very c-concerned f-for me and she only wants-" he gently placed two fingers on her lips to prevent her from speaking.
"Do you feel this way?"
Her blush further deepened to a point where she was almost purple as she nodded "O-occasionally I know that your b-busy and all b-but it would be n-nice to spend more t-t-time with you".
She really hated it when Hanabi was right about these things.
Gaara gave her a warm smile before he kissed her forehead.
"You do not have to fret over this. I feel the same, it would be nice to see you more often".
A bubbling feeling of joy spread inside her. Knowing that her husband wanted to be with her more made Hinata giddy with happiness, she simply loved this man and his honesty. They smiled at each other, but the moment was short lived with Temari appeared seemingly out of nowhere demanding that they all go baby shopping. "The kid's gonna show up in a while and you're not ready yet?! Gaara I thought that you had things under control!"
The sudden intrusion caused him to blink in surprise. "Temari we-" "Well let's go! Hinata-chan your lucky you have me around, someone who thinks ahead for these kinds of things".
The couple was left in complete confusion as Temari dragged them to various stores around the village. She was fed up with her little brother's constant worries and needed some way to distract him. She was also very excited to the fact that she was going to be an aunt. She had cried the day Hinata told her and Kankuro that she was pregnant and was eager to have her brother be happy with his future baby. So there they were walking around the village holding bags of stuff. It was a common sight to see Hinata around but Gaara was a different story. He didn't get out much to begin with but when he did, it was usually for small things. Nowadays it was becoming more and more common to see him out and about with his wife.
"Come on two let's go into this store".
"T-Temari-san can we p-please rest for a bit". Hinata looked quite exhausted, being pregnant was hard work to begin with but running around the village with arms full of baby supplies was enough to make her drop dead.
Gaara wasn't exactly thrilled either. He was just as tired as his wife, it wasn't everyday that you saw the Kazekage holding bags of stuff. His older sister wasn't at all fazed "Oh lighten up were almost done a couple more stores and then will be done".
Various citizens would often give congratulations to the couple as they walked past, it was no secret that many knew of Sunakagure's potential heir and were happy that a baby was coming.
Temari had been considering starting a family with Shikamaru. It was obvious that they were going to stay together and secretly Temari loved children but her rough nature meant that she couldn't show her softer side all the time. That was partly the reason why she was so happy that her future niece or nephew was coming. It would give her one more person to care for. And it anyone deserved to be loved it was her little brother.
After being dragged into so many stores the red-head finally decided that he had enough and somehow managed to convince his sister to let them all go back. So by the time he finally reached his bedroom he collapsed on the bed with his wife following suit.
"Well that was an adventure". Her light humor didn't really help with his mood "If you say so".
He moved closer to her, pressing his ear against her tummy. He could hear the faint heartbeat of his child inside and that caused him to smile. It was such a foreign thing to him, the thing called pregnancy but he happy that he was going to be a father.
In the first couple of months, he had noticed right away that his wife had somehow changed. He grew concerned when she constantly seemed hungry; craving food at various times of the day once even waking him up in the middle of the night demanding that he get her a bowl of ice cream with cookies. Another thing was the random mood swings that happened on and off. This happened once when she was snuggled up to him and when he told her how pretty she was she cried saying that she wasn't pretty at all do her weight gain; it had taken him a good twenty minutes to calm her down and convince her that she was beautiful no matter what. Since then he was always keeping an eye on his wife's mood to make sure that he didn't offend her in any way.
"Gaara?"
"Yes?"
Hinata ran a hand through his hair admiring the silkiness of it. "What do you want the baby to be?"
He raised his upper body so that he could look at her "I want a child". Hinata frowned a bit "Surly you would know what you want right? I mean there aren't that many choices".
Gaara didn't answer right away, he was trying to pick his words so not to anger is wife. "Hinata, we've been through this I do not care what the baby is. My only concern is that it is healthy and well".
The bluenette frowned even more "It's a simple question, all you have to do is pick between a boy or a girl".
The red head knew that he was treading on thin ice now; and unless he wanted to further anger his wife he'd have to think fast to get her to calm down.
"Hinata" he took her hand and placed it over his heart "I love you and our baby. It doesn't matter to me whether or not it's a boy or a girl, I am content simply knowing that our child is a creating of you and me. And believe me when I say that I'm anxious for the day when our future son or daughter is born so that I can hold him or her in my arms".
Her eyes started to water up, but it wasn't from anger. "Oh Gaara" she buried her face in his chest and cried out of joy. Her husband really knew how to pull on her heartstrings. He smiled as he stroked her hair, he meant every word of what he said; the day was coming when at long last the baby would be born.
Eventually Hinata calmed down enough to look at him with a smile on her face "Thank you Gaara". He used the back of his hand to wipe away her remaining tears. "I love you Hinata never forget that".
That was all he said as his hand slipped under her shirt to feel the mound on her stomach smiling when he felt his baby respond to his touch. The birth-date couldn't come soon enough for him.
I felt as though a little relief was needed from my previous chapters. I plan to have the next chapter out in a few days or so let's see if I can't make it a little longer. Thank you once again for waiting, it means a lot to me that my readers are so good to me.
Until next time!
