Hinata sat looking at her empty list, disheartened. Kankuro rubbed the back of his head, not knowing how to change her mood.
"You could ignore that one." He commented half-hearted, knowing that's not what she wanted to do.
She grimaced. "I like this tradition." She mumbled, setting the piece of paper down and slumping in her chair.
"You didn't do anything craft-wise your entire life?" He asked, confused.
"It's not something we treasure in Konoha. I was taught social behavior, politics, etiquette, and physical training. I would have been scolded for having a time-consuming hobby rather than studying or training." She explained.
"Oh, well, that explains why this isn't a trend in Konoha then." He concluded. He looked off at his office window. "You cook, that's odd for an heiress, any other odd skills?"
"I spent time in the herb garden." She offered. She would keep the reason why to herself. She hadn't been interested in learning about plants until they increased her training. Some mornings she could barely stand, so sitting tending to plants and studying their effects was welcomed.
Kankuro bolted upright, startling her. "Perfect!"
"What?" She asked him, bewildered.
"Gaara likes keeping cactuses." He explained.
"But, I don't know anything about cactuses." She mumbled.
"I'm sure plants will be fine. It's at least a common interest."
"How do I make that a wedding gift?" She mumbled.
"I've got an idea. We are going to have some trouble keeping it a surprise, though." He grabbed her paper and started to write.
Gaara knew there was something off. He wasn't sure what. His fiancee and his brother's report were becoming troubling. He wouldn't have noticed if it was only his brother being secretive. However, Hinata started to fidget when he spoke, especially when he stepped around what they did.
He didn't like secrets, and he didn't like that the secret made her uncomfortable. He was getting annoyed with it.
He pushed his irritation to the side, assuming they had some reason until Baki raised a question. "Have you noticed your brother and fiancee are acting secretive, not well mind you?" He asked, looking at the paperwork they gave him earlier. "I think they're not reporting all that is being sent to Konoha."
Gaara stiffened, not wanting to talk about this at the moment. "Yes." He confirmed and nothing more.
"Does it not raise concern." His teacher asked skeptically.
"Yes, it does." He confirmed again.
"Gaara-sama." Baki half-heartedly scolded. "I know you have been growing attached to your new friend. But, it's beginning to worry me that you would let her keep secrets from you, especially with your brother."
Gaara's face twitched in confusion. "Why is my brother's involvement a factor."
Baki gave him a look he wasn't quite sure of, but it looked like skepticism. "You don't find it at all odd that all she is hiding from you is her time with your brother."
"No," Gaara growled, getting frustrated. "Baki, if you are trying to tell me something, I would much rather you just say it."
"She is being secretive with you about her time with the only other friendly male she has contact with," Baki said firmly. "Most engaged men would find the worrying, especially if that male is your promiscuous brother."
Gaara froze. Was Baki implying that Hinata was hiding a relationship with his brother? "I do not believe that is what they are hiding." He glared up from his desk at his teacher. He was trying not to be offended by the notion.
"Why not?" Baki asked skeptically.
"Several reasons, the most obvious one would be Hinata is not nearly nervous enough for that to be the case." His wife-to-be was a nervous woman who enjoyed her personal space. She was growing more comfortable with his sister's lack of personal space. She was even taking it on herself to be more physically affectionate to him. However, if she could fidget herself into shaking just thinking about sharing a room with him, he highly doubted she was having relations before meetings and not shaking like a leaf.
"You think you know her that well, then what do you think it is she is hiding?" He asked.
"I assume it is something with her clan secrets I shouldn't know or some part of the wedding I don't need to know." He explained.
"You know if it was just Kankuro being secretive, you would have confronted him already." It was true. He wouldn't have put up with just his brother being so blatantly secretive. "You trust her." Also true.
Gaara returned to feeling irritation at his teacher, who's face softened. What was the point now?
"I've never seen you trust someone so completely so quickly." He explained. "Who is she that you have let her in so quickly?"
Gaara stared at his desk blankly, Baki was right, and it was something he hadn't thought of before. "She isn't afraid."
"Of Shakaku?" He wondered.
"Or me." He added. "Every time I think she is afraid of me, it turns out she is just afraid of what I think of her or that she might discomfort me. It may be that she never saw what I was, but she watched Naruto grow up, so she knows monsters, but she doesn't pity them. She wants to care for it. I don't understand her at all."
"So you trust her because she trusts you?" Baki confirmed.
He nodded. That was a good summary of how he felt.
"She worries about my comfort, even before her own when she did not need to. It is unusual." He emphasized.
Baki was amused. "Yes, I heard you have been having meals with her. Does she make you breakfast herself?"
Gaara looked up, confused at his teacher's sudden change in mood. "Yes."
"She can cook?" He pressed.
"Yes," Gaara said firmly.
"Well?" Gaara was losing his patience.
"Yes." He growled.
His teacher stopped pestering to simply smile at him with an unsettling 'I know something you don't.' hiding in it. "Any other surprises from the little heiress?" He wondered as he looked back down to his folder.
Hinata added reading curled in Gaara's office couch as part of her schedule. She wrote her letters there and read until she was ready to go to bed. Sometimes they spoke, but most nights, they stayed silent, just enjoying the company.
She knew he was suspicious about what she and Kankuro were hiding. Neither of them was really good liars, so they decided completely avoiding the subject was best. It bothered her that she had to keep this from him, and she wouldn't if it wasn't a gift. It was difficult to hide from him, paperwork wise. Kankuro was committing minor treason by keeping getting her materials and signing paperwork that should be given to Gaara. Kankuro was going the extra mile to help her with her wedding gift.
She was having a hard time stomaching lying to him, so she spoke to Kankuro about giving him something to hang on to. It was better than waiting until they caused him a reason to demand an explanation. So, tonight instead of coming in and curling up on the couch, as she usually would, she stepped in front of his desk, holding hands behind her back. Silently she waited for him to acknowledge her. He looked up in confusion as she approached.
"I know you've noticed the gaps in what Kankuro-san and I have been telling you, and I wanted to give a small explanation for our behavior." He was instantly interested but said nothing. "Kankuro-san has been helping me prepare a wedding gift because I'm not a particularly artistic person. I have no skills for making things of use or art-wise, so I required assistance. I know it's supposed to be kept unknown to the other party, so we have been secretive until we thought we could hide our work properly."
"Then why are you telling me now?" He asked. She could tell there were a couple of levels of relief that washed over him in the sudden softness of his face. What had he thought they were doing all this time?
"I knew you noticed." She explained. "Please let us continue in secret. I just don't want you to worry that I am purposely keeping things from you. I won't unless it's something like this." She vowed. She bowed deeply to him, closing her eyes tightly. "Please forgive me." The secret though harmless, had been eating at her soul since they started. She felt guilty for any worrying or wondering she made him do.
"Don't." Gaara scolded.
Hinata flinched in her low bow. He was angry with her. She didn't know if she could look up.
"Stop." He scolded again. She blinked at the floor, confused. Slowly rising, she looked at his stern disappointment and shrank into herself.
"Don't bow." He finished. She stared blankly at his mouth, slightly open, but she didn't know what she was going to say. "You don't need to bow to me."
"I'm sorry." She apologized, confused.
"Don't be." He answered firmly. "I trusted that you were hiding nothing important. That is why I didn't ask. I won't now, but thank you." He nodded, excusing her behavior.
She let relief take over. He wasn't angry. "Speaking of which. You may have Kankuro. However, I am in the dark and unsure who I would confide in for a wedding gift in return. Is there anything you would want?"
She instantly straightened. She had thought about it. "You don't need to give me one. You already have." He looked confused, so she continued to bring her hands forward. "From what I know of the custom, it needs to be handmade, artwork, meaningful, or useful in the home." She twisted her ring on her finger. "I think my engagement ring fits under meaningful artwork, and I don't take it off, so I guess that makes it well used." She mumbled. "It is my custom to have a ring, and it is your custom to give a handmade gift, so a handmade ring seems fitting."
Gaara stared at her unblinkingly. Had she surprised him, or did he not understand what she meant? "Very well." He agreed.
She silently thanked him for not pushing that matter. He had already given her so much it wasn't fair to accept or ask for more.
And she did love her ring.