"I am considering it," Gaara told his elder brother, who stared at him as if he had just told him the walls around Suna had all fallen at once. Was it that surprising?
"You're serious?" He continued to gape at him.
His gaze hardened. Had he ever told a joke in his life? Of course, he was serious.
His brother continued to stare until he seemed to have found words again. "Well, it's just that... the council has been pushing women at you since you came of age, and you have never shown interest before." He explained.
Yes, they had been pushing him to marry. He agreed to meet every woman they had picked out. He made it clear, just because he decided to meet them did not mean he agreed to an arrangement. He only agreed to meet them because Naruto had suggested it might be a good idea.
Mostly Suna women were presented, attractive, powerful in either personal power or political. They all had a level of confidence that was above what they were worth or capable of. They liked to make assumptions about him and talked as if they knew who he was and what he had gone through. It didn't anger him as much as it was just annoying. He didn't like being talked at mindlessly.
He was genuinely surprised they had found that many women that were willing to marry him. However, most of the women were older than him, some by even a decade. He had matured quickly as a child by force, so he understood why they would push older women. But why would older women want him? They would have been around and aware when he had no control when he was at his worst. He honestly didn't understand.
"Those women were not interesting." Hinata was different from Suna women. She had none of the attributes that he was raised to see as attractive, yet she still was attractive. Her pale skin stood out when she spoke to his sister, pale like his. It regularly was flushed with color for many reasons he didn't understand. She was quickly 'embarrassed' by things he would say. He thought that was highly interesting. It was amusing to see her change emotions. He didn't understand how he made it happen so often. Naruto called it 'adorable'. Though he wasn't sure how that was different than what he said about the medic, he considered it a positive comment.
Her Hyuga eyes made it hard to tell what she was thinking, yet she was always so expressive. Her eyes widened and shrank extensively. They watered when she was upset. Her cheeks reddened when he spoke about specific topics. Her fingers fiddled, her lips fidgeted. She was so unlike him. Yet, no matter how non-expressive he was, she seemed to understand what he was thinking.
"And she is?" His brother asked out of what he understood now as a curiosity.
"Yes." She was endlessly fascinating like he recently found small creatures to be. Easily frightened, yet fearless, usually due to naivety. She was easily frightened by falling objects or people approaching her without warning. Yet, she could stand to be beside him or spend a whole day with him once, looking scared. Even when he insulted her, she was upset but not frightened of his aura and stance. She was an abnormality. She acted genuine in every way. She hadn't tried to lie to him. She just simply avoided the subjects she didn't want him to know about.
"When I met her Temari, and I thought she would be good for you, but we didn't consider you would be willing to marry her." Kankuro looked off the side, thinking.
Had he been set up the first day by his brother and sister's own will and not because her father suggested it to Kankuro? "What do you mean?"
"Well, it was the way she looked at you and how she spoke about you. She has a unique opinion on tailed beast's it would seem." His brother looked back over to him. "I think she said something like, it wasn't fair that you and Naruto were treated like monsters because you didn't choose to be vessels. I've never heard it put quite that way. She looked at you like you were abused, not like you were an abuser that was just righting his ways." Kankuro looked down. "I should have been thinking of it more like that."
Gaara considered the new information. Hinata not being scared of him made a lot more sense now. "She does not perceive me as a monster." He repeated in thought. He knew the protest of Shukaku was telling him that wasn't possible, but she had surprised him so far.
He decided he wanted Naruto's opinion on the situation.
"She said that?" Naruto asked with a smile. "It does sound like her."
"It does?" He asked, digging for information from the blond.
"Yeah, she's never mad, always forgiving, and she's really sweet all the time. I accidentally hit her in the face once, and she apologized to me." So she was always apologizing. She wasn't just doing it because he was Kage.
"I'm considering marrying her." He informed him, he was not prepared for the reaction. Naruto's mouth hung open dramatically, and he stood, leaning over him.
"What?! Marry her?!" His friend yelled in his face. "You didn't even tell me you liked her!" He continued to shout.
Gaara wasn't sure whether the information was upsetting to his friend or not. He continued to listen to his friend's protest of not telling him sooner.
"Wait! Didn't you just meet her a couple of days ago? When did you decide you liked her?" Naruto's face was lit up in a happy little romantic world. Gaara almost didn't want to crush his heart.
"Her father has only recently asked if I was interested. The council has been wanting me to marry. It seemed like a logical step." He explained.
Naruto's face dropped, and so did he. "Oh, I forgot they were making her do that, but, I mean, do you like her?"
"She is one of the more tolerable females I have spent time with," Gaara admitted. He knew vaguely what his friend was asking, but he wasn't entirely sure how you could tell. He hardly understood this friendship or his relationships with his siblings. It made sense he wouldn't understand the concept of liking someone romantically.
"I guess that is a plus." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "If you're serious about this, I guess I can be behind it but be careful with Hinata-chan. She's really sweet, and she gets attached to things," He shrunk into his chair. "And she won't tell you till it's too late to do anything about it."
Gaara hated indirectness. There was a story attached to that. "What do you mean." He growled.
Naruto looked embarrassed for the first time he had ever been with him, looked down as he explained. "Back when they decided this whole thing, she came to me and told me she was letting me go."
"What?" That had made no sense. They were still friends.
"She had had a long-lasting crush on me and hadn't said anything. I didn't know, but apparently, everyone else did. But, since I'm not Hyuga material, she felt there was no reason to keep it from me anymore. She looked miserable for weeks. She still doesn't look at me the same. She wouldn't ever let me answer whether or not I returned her feelings because it didn't matter anymore." Naruto lost his height as he slumped into his chair.
If she had liked Naruto romantically, that explained her 'soft spot' for the tailed beast as Kankuro had said.
"Did you return them?" He wasn't going to marry her if he did. From what he understood about relationships, that was bad.
"I never really thought about it. I like Sakura-chan I hadn't even considered Hinata-chan. She's an excellent friend. I don't want to overthink it because developing feelings now wouldn't be fair to her." So he hadn't liked her romantically before, and he was going to make an effort not to as to not hurt her feelings. Was that what it took to develop those feelings? Just think about it? That didn't sound right, but he had been wrong before.
Gaara didn't know what the etiquette was for any of this. "Do you think I should marry her?"
"That's up to you and her. Just take care of her. If you don't I won't forgive you if you hurt her." Naruto straightened, challenging him.
"I have no reason to harm her." He didn't understand his friend's fear. He hadn't been violent to civilians in years.
"No, not like that, hurt her feelings. She is easy to upset on accident, but definitely, don't do it on purpose." He explained.
That made more sense, though he had already hurt her that way.
"Marry Hinata?" The Hokage asked him.
His sister stared back at him in confusion.
"I don't see why everyone is repeating things I say." He crossed his arms, glaring at them.
"It's just out of the blue, Gaara. You haven't even tried to like any of the girls the council tried to set you up with." His sister started.
"Yes, I have already had that conversation with Kankuro." He was going to stop telling people if it was just going to repeat conversations. He should get to the point. "From what I understand, she is being required to marry, and I am being pressured as well. The Hyuga has been looking for ties they can make with Suna. Her father has made a specific offer, and she seems to have no problem with the idea."
"Have you asked her?" The older Kage asked, suddenly more interested.
"She has expressed having no issue having to court me." His sister made an amused face, and he didn't understand what was funny.
"No, have you asked her to marry you?" The Hokage rolled her eyes. Wasn't that an insult to intelligence?
"It's an arranged marriage." And she knew her father was pushing it.
Both women made faces of distaste. "Perfect reason to at least give her a choice. Hinata doesn't get many choices in her life. If you are so sure she is okay with it, get her a ring and ask her." The older woman crossed her arms. "She says yes, I give you my blessing and will help with the legations."
His sister nodded. "I know you aren't a romantic, but think of the poor girl."
"I am not familiar with engagement customs in Konoha." He realized.
"You present a ring and ask." His sister said too quickly. Hinata had touched on engagement rings. She had explained how personalized ones were something to be valued over the expense. She had mentioned it in passing when Kankuro asked about rings in a jewelry shop.
"How do you know?" The Hokage asked with a grin that told him he was missing something.
She turned red and looked away. "Oh, studying customs."
The Hokage rolled her eyes again and continued. "Take her somewhere she likes, get her a ring, and ask nicely." She advised. "She will appreciate it."