Hinata knocked lightly on Gaara's bedroom door which promptly opened with a confused fiancee staring down at her.
"I-I thought you would like to sleep well tonight, so I prepared early so I could come before we left." She mumbled.
"You don't need to, I have gone many nights without your treatments and I will the next couple of days." He countered.
"I-It will make me more comfortable knowing you slept well at least one night I was gone." She explained.
He nodded understanding her point and let her in. He set aside whatever paperwork he had taken to bed with him. She chewed her lip looking at the size of the stack. It kinda hurt that he was already preparing for sleepless nights.
He laid down like he did every night with a sigh. She slipped off her shoes and climbed on 'her' side of the bed up to her usual spot kneeling by his head. He closed his eyes as she settled herself into a comfortable position with her hip on a pillow.
She did this every night now, she slept much better as well, she wasn't sure if it was the calming act of running her finger through his hair before she went to bed or that idea that he was sleeping well.
"Shukaku has voiced a distaste to your departure." He stated.
She blinked down at his resting face. "R-Really?" She asked he opened his eyes to look up at her.
"He's possessive and irrational, though he has an extreme distaste for humans it seems he enjoys you being around enough to contradict himself." He explained. "He did not react as calmly as I did to your news."
"I-I'm flattered that he thinks I am a worthy human of his attention." She hoped he didn't think she was trying to be funny, but she couldn't think of better wording. "U-Uh, thank you Shukaku-san." She mumbled, still worried it was rude to speak in the third person, but also she worried how Gaara felt always having to be with him at all time, from what she understood he couldn't shut him out.
When she glanced back down Gaara was looking up in what she would probably say was amused for him.
She felt her face heat. Maybe I shouldn't have.
She started to run her fingers through his hair. "I-I hope you still try to sleep while I am gone. T-Temari is going to have lunch and dinner with you in my place. Pl-Please has breakfast." She mumbled. He wasn't going to revert while she was gone if she had any say in it.
He gave her a small confirming noise as he drifted welcoming his sleep as she calmed his synapsis. His breathing evened and she removed her hands.
When she was sure he was thoroughly asleep she leaned down to his forehead. Hoping dearly she was right about his consciousness. "Th-Thank you Shukaku-san, please don't be mad with him for letting me leave. I-I know he will miss me too."
She pierced her lips and carefully crawled out of the bed like every night. She decided first night that she didn't want to fall asleep in his room. It was still his room and it would be rude to prematurely move in and surely frowned upon, so she always made it a point to never stay long enough to fall asleep herself.
She slipped on her shoes and slept quietly toward the door closing it with a silent goodbye to his sleeping form.
"Humidity, joy," Kankuro mumbled as they finally sat down after entering the village. "You know I'm surprised no one came to meet you."
"N-No one knew I was coming. I-It will be a bit of an accidental surprise that I am here." She explained, she hadn't meant to not tell anyone she just simply forgot that people might want to know, her sister would be ecstatic if she wasn't already told by the council.
"I see a lot of squealing in your future." He mumbled. She nodded with a smile. "Hungry or do you want to go unpack and go to bed as I do?"
"I-I would like to take a real shower and sleep in a real bed." She agreed.
"You would think after centuries of being ninja's, humans would evolve to care less about comfort." He whined. "It would make my life easier."
Kankuro knocked on her door to wake her, she answered groggily, rubbing her eyes. Hoping he would mind she was in her nightgown and robe. She peeked out the door in question.
"We should go report, you want to get dressed and go eat first?" He asked, tilting his head down to see her face.
"Y-Yeah, I'll get dressed." She closed the door quickly changing into her new clothing that was still surprisingly comfortable in the moister air of her birthplace.
She stepped out to her waiting nearly brother in law who looked over to her. "That was quick. You should braid your hair like that more often." He commented in passing as he led her down the hall.
She simply had braided it down her back, something she had done in Suna as well she just curled it up afterward to keep it out of the way. Maybe she would try leaving it down if it didn't sever to be too warm.
"Your little cafe Gaara talks about then?" He asked descending stairs.
"S-Sure." She agreed.
"He said there is some sweet pastry you like. He wasn't sure of the name. Something like cinnamon cakes?" He pondered as she caught up to step with him.
"C-Cinnamon rolls." She corrected. "H-He didn't like them."
"He can be picky about sweets." He added.
"S-Sometimes I put jams in cakes or on tarts and despite him knowing that I know he doesn't like bean paste he always gives it a wary look." She giggled.
"I'm not sure why that is. He never did like it." He mumbled.
As they stepped outside she realized it was getting dark. "Wh-What time is it?"
"Past dinner, early enough places haven't closed, but late enough it's gone dark." She nodded. "Probably won't run into many people tonight either."
"Hinata it's nice to see you again." Tsunade smiled at her. "How are you fairing the new living situation?"
"W-Well, it was only a shock at first. I-It's surprisingly bitter cold at night." She explained.
"She fainted the first day," Kankuro added to her embarrassment.
"I'm guessing the explains the change in attire. You fit right in and you look so grown up." The older woman commented. Tsunade was always encouraging toward her, the mothering voice she didn't get at home. "Tying up the ends of this treaty should only take a week but you're welcome to stay a while longer if you need."
"A-actually a week is fine. I-I have things to attend to." She mumbled.
"You can trust it to Temari. She won't kill them." She gave him a pointed look, she didn't want to directly comment on what she thought Temari's skills with plants were but she didn't like trusting the care of her wedding gift to her.
Stunde looked between them confused. "Sure, I'm sure your husband-to-be will like having you back soon as well."
Hinata blushed.
Kankuro covered his ears to protect from squealing comically, but Hinata didn't find it funny. She gave him a frown and he dropped his arm muttering about her being no fun. She walked into the compound past surprised branch members and was promptly let into her old home.
She stepped into and suddenly felt the creep of years of memories in the uncomfortably stiff air.
"Not very inviting," Kankuro mumbled. She gave him another frown hoping he would keep his comments to himself.
She led him down the hall toward her father's office before she truly felt the creep of childhood fears.
Upon knocking they were told to enter, her father didn't look up at first. She was suddenly annoyed at the lack of respect he showed toward his eldest daughter, not being under his thumb for some time she found some ground to stand on self-confidence wise. A few sessions of standing in front of a council that tiptoed around her helped.
She wasn't reverting, she owed it to Gaara and Suna to not bow to the pressure of her old home. She cleared her throat lightly, to get his attention.
He stopped abruptly to glare down his nose at her. She kept a solid frown showing her distaste without the rudeness of a glare.
"Hinata." He addressed sternly, sounding like a dark warning scold.
"F-Father." She addressed back with a soft but firm tone of voice.
She could feel Kankuro retract immediately.
"W-We came to give the council the proposal for review for tomorrow's meeting." She stepped forward placing the folded on his desk.
"The Kazekage didn't accompany his fiancee?" He asked pointedly looking past her to her highly uncomfortable companion.
"Th-That would be highly impractical, not only would that mean leaving the village once again, but he has had no direct hand in the negotiation other than being told how they were progressing. H-He has handed the negotiations to me and his siblings. Kankuro-san hasn't been working directly with the treaty the whole time, but he handles economics, trade, and business, which is more important for these negotiations." She could feel her father waves of disapproval, she was speaking to him at the level she had been too grumpy old men that fought with her on minor details of the treaty in Suna. It scared her to be brave.
"Very well. Come back in the morning." He ordered.
"Th-The meeting will be after lunch. I-I assure you we won't be late." Denying him what he was asking for, to try and sink his claws in before the council did. She wasn't letting him control her when she was so close to being free. "I-I going to go greet Hanabi-nee-chan." She said dismissively as she headed toward the door, Kankuro quickly followed her out.
"The hell was that?" Kankuro yell-whispered as the door was closed.
"I-I think I just snubbed my father." She mumbled as she started to tremble. She had never been so terrified, and yet she had held off the tremors until she had made her point. She wondered what the council would have thought of her if they had her apply what they had been using on her for years.