Hinata fell into a steady day to day routine. Every morning she would be up before the kitchen staff and made Gaara breakfast. They told her things he liked, made sure she had everything she needed, and even got her real tea. She brought it up to him, they had their breakfast, and he told her what they had to do during the day. After that, she would do physical training by herself until Temari was up and had breakfast.
Temari trained her on the ins and outs of Suna politics. Temari got a big grin on her face every time Hinata pointed out something that didn't make logical sense to have or implemented. Mostly it was merely being held on to because it was old. Temari pushed her to voice her opinion about how to better them. Hinata thought Temari was putting too much faith in her ability to change them, but she was glad for the support.
She would break for lunch, allow the staff to make a tray for her and Gaara, and make him take a break. She would encourage him to vent about his paperwork, and she would ask him brief questions on the more ridiculous laws and policy. Most of the time, he wouldn't be able to give her a good reason and would eventually point out that it was something the council was holding on to.
Hinata was starting to see why the treaties with Suna were hard to make.
They would finish lunch. Hinata would go back to work this time with Kankuro teaching her more cultural and economic aspects. He oversaw and worked out the marriage treaty. She was interested in the culture of these people. The dessert was a hard place to live, and they decided they were staying in it. It made them formidable and forced them to be strong. It was interesting, and she was always holding on to every word.
She would have dinner with Gaara, even talked him into taking the time to have dinner with his siblings once, but she didn't want to push it.
Then there was a more formal meeting before she was left off to do what she liked for the night. When she usually was so tired, she wrote home then went directly to bed.
The meetings were with him, Temari, Kankuro, their previous teacher, and a younger woman who did not like her. Kankuro told her that Matsuri was the only student Gaara had taken on, and she was highly protective of his image. Translation: Hinata hadn't proven herself good enough. Therefore his student didn't like her until shown reason to show her respect. This had led to stiff moments when Kankuro reported on the marriage agreement, or Temari gushed about how she was doing with the wedding planning.
She couldn't be upset with the younger girl. She certainly had a right to be a skeptic. Hinata was a foreigner that Gaara had decided to marry overnight, then she promptly dropped half the government in her lap. In her opinion, Matsuri had a good reason to be harsh toward her.
Gaara disagreed.
She had physically cringed on the few occasions when he had had enough of her prodding, scoffs, and ruling of eyes when Hinata didn't understand something due to the difference in culture or because it didn't make sense for any government.
Gaara had started to have a shorter and shorter temper with her each meeting and began snapping at her regularly. The poor girl looked wounded.
Hinata had had quite enough after two weeks of it. "Gaara, let her speak!" She demanded.
He had been clearly taken back by her outburst and stared at her like she just turned blue. She was so upset she might have. Matsuri and everyone else looked just as surprised. The room became cold and stiff, and was the dust moving?
"She can point out why she thinks I'm wrong or be annoyed by my culture shock. She represents the average opinion the Suna people will have of me. I need to hear what she has to say." She explained pointedly.
He stared at her sternly and dismissed the meeting, pointing out he wanted to speak to her alone. She let out a shaky sigh as they left. Temari and Kankuro looked genuinely worried. She wondered what kind of line she just crossed, but she couldn't watch the poor girl's heart be broken anymore. It was crueler than anything she could call her.
She heard the door click shut before she turned back to him and his darkening eyes.
"That was not necessary." He said sternly. He looked like he was trying to force down anger, and it was taking everything in his power to not growl. The air, or rather the particles in the air, weren't hiding the irritation as well. They swirled in angry patterns you couldn't see, just feel.
"Yes, it was." She countered. His face twitched. She doubted he thought she was going to continue to argue. "It's clear that she is not this way normally, or you wouldn't be so upset about the behavior."
He continued his intense stare waiting for her to continue, he didn't confirm, but she didn't need him to.
"She cares about you and this village and wants what's best, and she doesn't think I'm the right choice." She explained. "The entire village is going to be that way. I'm foreign. I don't look like them or know their customs. I look weird and have different customs than most of Konoha. I'm used to skepticism." She motioned to the door and who had just gone through it.
"She was targeting you." He objected.
"Yes, as she should have a right too! She cares enough about you to think I'm not good enough. That is her opinion, and I think she should be allowed to have it and express it." She strained her back as she argued and crossed her arms tightly to keep from wringing her hands raw.
Hinata didn't realize she was doing it, but his face changed from annoyance to something guarded, was he hurt? She wasn't backing down. She would stand up for the girl, whether it made him angry with her or not. The air changed from irritation to guarded anger.
They stared at each other for a minute before he spoke. "She is my student."
"That does not mean you should silence her. If I was anyone else, you wouldn't say a word." His anger flared, spreading across his face. She had done it now, hadn't she? "You are handling me lightly. I know you are. As much as I appreciate it because you are not required to, and you have no obligation to. However, you cannot extend that to others." She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. "You won't be able to bark at a village citizen who says it, don't silence her. She is justified in thinking I shouldn't be taking the position or marrying you."
She waited like that in the dark, not wanting to see his angry face. The feeling changed, and the grating air stopped all at once. Deadly silence. "Justified?"
She opened her eyes in confusion, looking at that guarded look again. "Yes."
"You think she's right to not accept you and think you do not belong here." His voice was suddenly trained and calm. She didn't like this side of him. She'd rather he was still angry.
"Not that she is right, but that she has the right to think that. I'm not saying that I shouldn't be here. I do think that I am being given a lot of responsibilities that, as a foreign nin, should be seen as odd. It is a large job Temari wants to pass to me. As your wife, I am fully willing to take it and serve Suna just as I have Konoha. However, the rest of Suna will not see it like that. They will see a pale, weak woman with weird eyes in the place where a strong Suna woman should be and think I am wrong. If I want to make a change, it will have to be better than perfect because I'm not a Suna native." There was a small tinge of relief, and then the stress in his face started to leak out. He sighed, looking down at his desk in irritation. "We didn't think this marriage through. We jumped before looking over the cliff, and now we have to deal with the fall."
"Fine." He said bitterly.
"Please don't do that." She cringed.
"Do what?" He asked irritably, glaring up at her.
"Try to dismiss the conversation just because you don't like the outcome." She explained. She didn't want them becoming bitter toward each other.
"Then you can stop treating me like an enemy." He growled at her.
She blinked at him in confusion. "What?"
"You're body language and tone. You're trying to dominate the argument, defensively." He explained.
She blinked, looking down. She honestly hadn't noticed. She usually shrunk in an argument, but they were always with her father or her friends where she didn't want to make it worse. This was different. She was trying to make things better. "Sorry." She released the tight muscles and sat down, crumbling, feeling heavy. She looked up at him as his face softened, realizing she was not being intentional.
She smiled at him, warmly for a moment before realizing something, and she started to giggle.
His face twisted in confusion. "What's funny?"
"This was our first fight. It's usually a milestone in a relationship." She continued to giggle. "It's usually about suspected infidelity, jealousy of time with friends, or being upset over something the friend said." He continued to look confused. "However, in this case, instead of thinking of the female as a threat, I argued that she should be mean."
He seemed to relax but didn't seem to think it funny as she did. She was happy he was calming down, though. "I see, but I do not like having these disagreements."
"That's understandable, but they will happen. We can't agree on everything. I'm not a big fan of conflict." He nodded, understanding with a sigh. They sat in tired silence before she finally added. "I like her."
He raised an non-eyebrow at her.
"Really, I do. She reminds me of Hanabi-chan and nii-san when we were younger. Hanabi-chan was always ready for a fight, and Nii-san always was looking for an argument. Nii-san being silenced by the Hyuga nearly got me killed."
Gaara looked at his desk in thought. "I believe I remember that."
She cringed at the thought he was watching her be weak and getting beaten to death.
"You are close to him now?" He asked, confused.
"You're close to your siblings when you didn't use to be." She pointed out.
"That is different." He started.
"No, it's not. Nii-san saw me as the symbol of what had oppressed him. To him, I was the monster that had put the cursed seal on him because I was." Gaara opened his mouth, but she continued. "When the Hyuga heir turns two, all the branch children receive their cursed seals." She reminded him.
He seemed to get it then. "Your system sounds oppressive."
"It is, and despite the benefits, I do think it is wrong." She shrunk. "The Hyuga knew that, and it's one reason they were eager to get rid of me, my opinion that they were wrong." She pointed out.
He rubbed his temples. "I understand your point. I will refrain from scolding her every time, but I will still do it when she is being disruptive."
"That's expectable." She agreed. She felt bad for stressing him out on top of his typical day.
She wanted to help draw some of the stress of the day away. "Would you join me for a walk?"