Hinata brushed her now clean, sand free hair out, tucking it back into a braid. One thing was for sure, she didn't need to exfoliate anytime soon. In some places, sand had gotten caught in her clothes and rubbed while she walked. Her knees hurt where she fell were both painfully raw. It hurt to have water run down her raw skin to rinse the sand off. She dressed carefully back in warmer bedclothes and a robe and headed up to his office. She knocked gently, and to her surprise, the door swung up to let her in.
Hinata blinked up at the man that startled her. "Evening Baki-san." She bowed her head as she stepped through the door, now feeling more self-conscious about her choice of clothing. It was thick and showed nothing, but it was unprofessional.
"More like morning." Baki gave her a half-smile. "I hear we have you to thank quite a few people getting in their homes safely tonight. You even went the whole way out past homes and found a small family that decided to stargaze on a wrong night."
"I'm a tracking nin, Konoha, or Suna. It's my duty to protect citizens." She answered, straightening her back, subconsciously feeling under investigation.
"How humble, it's not, however, your duty to rock terrified children to sleep and comfort the guilty conscience of mothers. We thank you nonetheless, and I hope your abilities will be useful in future sandstorms." He bowed his head and headed toward the door.
"Thank you." She called after him as he closed the door, leaving her with her and her fiance.
The air was stiff. Gaara stood from his desk, crossing the room to the couch, and sat, leaving her usual spot open. She joined him cautiously, wondering why he chose the couch to argue. She sat, tucking a leg under her as she sat looking up at his guarded, heavily frustrated face, confused.
"I don't scare." Gaara broke the silence suddenly.
Hinata was confused. "I didn't think you would." She kept her voice low. She was wary of his new behavior.
"I was scared tonight." He confessed.
"I thought this was normal. Sudden storms happened now and again." She tilted her head, desperately trying to see what she was missing. He wasn't making sense. She was glad he was telling her, but she would like to understand.
"No." He crinkled his nose and furrowed his brow in frustration. "Yes, they do, but that's not what I was speaking of." He continued. He closed his eyes, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and put his finger into his hair. "I was scared when I found I didn't know where you were or rather how you were."
A huge wave of relief and understanding washed over her. It made sense all at once. Gaara was worried about her. It wasn't normal for him to worry about the people they care for because they could care for themselves. He had never seen her work. He didn't know what she was capable of. He was scared of her.
Hinata's heart melted. She reached forward to touch his shoulder. It was rigid, almost shaking.
"Thank you for your concern. I'm a nin too, though, I have a responsibility too."
"No, you're not understanding me." He said harsher raking his fingers through his damp hair a few times quickly in frustration. "I know you are! I was still scared. It doesn't make sense!"
She pierced her lip. So he was feeling this way, and he knew the cause but didn't know why. It seemed the feeling of being scared was scaring him more.
"Gaara, that's okay." She rubbed her thumb over his shoulder, wondering if anything more he would reject. "It's okay to let yourself be scared, even if you don't understand it. Fear isn't a weakness. It's a survival instinct." She whimpered, leaning closer, hoping it was causing him some comfort.
He looked up at her with wild eyes showing her unguarded the fear he was talking about. It brought tears to her eyes to see him so disheveled. Her heart broke, and she dropped to her knees on the floor in front of him, quickly curled herself around him. He stiffened, and for a moment, she wondered if it was a good idea to throw herself at him. He slowly relaxed, dropping his head to her shoulder and moving his arms around her to hold her tightly to him.
She let the tear run down her face for him. She brushed her fingers gently on his shoulder blade where her hand was. His face buried tightly into her neck. She kept her position on her knees despite their protests of the hard floor and possibly some sand stuck into her skin that she missed.
The desperation in the way he held her made her heart crumble painfully. She hadn't meant to worry him. She hadn't thought about what he would think at all. If she had, she would have never imagined he would react like this.
He trembled in her arms. He moved to hold her closer to try to make it stop. Hinata concluded Gaara liked being held.
When he was like this. How could she refuse him?
He clung to her. He had to focus on something other than the gnawing fear. He focused his sense on her. He took in her warmth. It made the world stop shaking around him, just by her holding him. He focused on the small pattern she rubbed into his shoulder. Her calm breathing, her wet hair that fell from it binds to his temple, her soaked scent.
The world was not crumbling under him. He came down from his anxiety attack to realize that was all it was. He felt foolish for letting himself so fully succumb to his newfound fears. As his mind began to clear, he began to wonder what he would have done if she hadn't made him talk about it tonight. He would have taken his panic out on his room in the middle of the night. Maybe he would have let himself simmer and even blamed it on her in the morning. Would she have still tried to comfort him? He hoped the answer was no. She should not be so forgiving of his cruelty, but he had no doubt she would have done something similar to what she was doing now.
After a while, she washed away the last of the tremors, she spoke. "Gaara?" She asked. He didn't know what to answer her with. She waited and when he didn't answer. "Gaara, you were out there too. You're thoroughly exhausted. You should head to bed." She whispered. "I'll try to help." She offered.
He didn't want to let her go. His arms loosened just enough so she could pull back and look at him. He didn't look up. He didn't deserve her worried looks. "If you lay down, I can try it here." She unwrapped her warmth, placed her hands over his wrist, and gently pulled only once. She wasn't forcing him to let go. She was asking.
He answered by letting her take his arms limply and pull them between them. She moved to stand, and he instinctively grabbed her arms. He released her just as quickly, he didn't even know what he wanted, but she seemed to. She kneeled back down, taking his hand in hers, dropping back on her heels, flatting fully on her knees to look up at him searching his face. He examined her tear-filled eyes and wondered why she had been crying. Was she so caring she had chosen to cry for him? She gave him a sad smile. She lifted herself off her knees, slowly releasing his hands one at a time to press his shoulders lightly to have him a layout of his couch as she spoke.
"I'm not leaving. I'm just going to sit with you, okay?" She asked as she released his shoulders. She sat in the space left above his head and had him lift his shoulders to have him lay his head in her lap.
"This is going to be just like when I put gel in your hair." She explained to him. She started lightly running her fingers back against his scalp. "I'm going to add little pulses of chakra that won't affect your brain. It will just calm the chakra that flows around it." She whispered.
Honestly, her soft whispering was calming enough, but Shukaku panicked as she explained her process. Was he going to trust her with his head like that? He had before, when she could have full well sent a chakra pulse and made his brain dead. He stayed still, wondering what the beast might do, but nothing came.
He felt the slight tingle as she sent light chakra burst in patterns with her fingers. Looking up at her, he watched her stare fully focused with her eyes activated at his scalp.
Shukaku silenced, going back to his observant behavior like he did when she was around.
He closed his eyes and listened to her breathing. Why did it soothe him so that she was?
Hinata was startled awake by a knock on the door. "Gaara?" She heard. Temari. She blinked awake, looking around. She was still in Gaara's office. The light was shining through the window. She had overslept, and Temari was probably looking for her.
She looked down at the warmth in her lap. Gaara slept in with her. She lifted the hands that rested on his chest and forehead to rub her eye. She whispered loudly for Temari to come in quietly.
Temari peaked in confusion to hear her voice. Hinata hushed her, putting her finger to her lip, pointing at her lap silently.
"Is he asleep?" Temari whispered, surprised, tip-toeing toward them, looking over her brother like it was the first time she had ever seen him sleep in her life. Hinata nodded, looking down at his relaxed features. "How long has he been like that?" She asked, staying a safe distance away to not wake him.
"A-All night." Hinata assumed. She brushed her fingers lightly over the tip of his hair.
"I can't believe you got him to sleep." She looked up the clock. "He doesn't have any meetings for another 2 hours. I'll let you sleep." Temari's grin practically skipped as she slipped back out, and Hinata tried not to giggle at the giddy woman.
She wondered how bad his sleeping habits truly were if just seeing him sleep after a stressful night got such a reaction out of his sister. She rubbed his hair between her fingers, hoping he would continue to allow her to help him. The worst thing that could happen now would be him closing off on her.
He woke up in a panic. He was being touched! Why had he not woke before he was touched! He shot up fully alert and received a squeak in response. He turned quickly to his spooked fiancee. Her hands flew to her chest, protectively as she hurt them. His eyes flicked from her to around the room. It was daylight, almost lunchtime, and it was just the two of them, no immediate threats.
He looked back at her confusion. Was he unconscious? Was she injured?
She searched his face recovering from being startled, and gave a calm sigh. "Gaara, calm down. You just slept in." She reached out slowly to lightly touch him. He didn't sleep. Had she made him sleep?
Had she slept there upright?
She blinked at him as he stared at her. She looked worried. Had he scared her?
"Temari-san said you had a meeting, and it's almost time someone brings our lunch." She explained softly. "I'm going to go change." She stood, straightening her robe into place.
"What happened?" He asked, still unsure.
"I put you to sleep, then fell asleep myself." She looked over at the door. "Temari-san came looking for me, and her knocking woke me up..."
"I don't sleep through knocking." He explained his confusion.
"You also don't scare." She commented with a sudden bright smile. She left with her point proven.
He could hear calm rumbles in his head. It wasn't the normal angry growling he used to hearing. Was Shukaku purring?
"Sleep well?" Temari asked, more teasing. He did not like the new comfort zone his siblings were swimming in.
"It would seem." He sighed.
"Is she just that calming?" Temari prodded.
"She did something with the chakra around my head. I assume it's a Hyuga procedure." Temari blinked at him, suddenly dropping the amusement.
"You let her use chakra on your head?" He stared at her. Obviously, he just said that. He didn't like repeating himself. "Shukaku, let her do that?"
"I'm not sure why he let her. For once, he doesn't have anything to say. He was bothered by the idea at first, but he didn't say anything." He wasn't sure why he was trusting her. Maybe he was tired as well. He wasn't answering his questions, so he had no answers.
Temari continued to stare at him like he had given up his gourd. "Sharing a room with her might be beneficial to your health."
Hinata blinked at the girl in front of her bowing deeply. She stared through the stands of short brown hair draped over and around her face and wondered if she was mistaking her for someone else.
"Matsuri-san, what….?" She started.
"The woman and children you brought in yesterday are neighbors of mine. Thank you." The girl continued to stay in her tight bow.
"You don't need to thank me." She explained, hoping she would stop bowing so uncomfortably.
"I do." She stated the student.
"Did you thank Gaara?" She asked.
"No." Matsuri looked up, standing up finally. "Why would I?"
"He brought us back, and he brought probably twice as many people in as I did." She explained.
"That's his job." She countered.
"It's mine too. I went out because I could help. I may still be a Konoha citizen and nin until I marry, but it's still just as much my job to protect the people of the village. It doesn't matter where I am." Matsuri's brow furrowed at her. "So you don't need to thank me unless you thanked everyone else."
Matsuri stared flatly at her. She seemed frustrated. She turned back down the hall from where she came without another word. Hinata sighed, she had no hopes for the girl liking her, but she didn't want to make it worse either.