Everything went back for the most part, or at least that's what everyone thought. Temari and Kankuro passed the incident off, Matsuri avoided the subject, the general staff were too scared to ask. They were all just happy he was acting normal again. Baki, however, wasn't so quick to go without explanation.
He cornered her in the hall.
"What is it that you did to stop his rampage?" He asked, specifically. "He can take weeks to calm down completely after he's done with an episode, and you seemed to have made this disappear overnight, quite literally."
"I..." She blushed. "Maybe this is something you should ask Gaara. This is my first time dealing with this, so I'm not sure if I did something right, or just something that worked this time." He narrowed his eyes at her. "This incident may not be a good example of calming an episode because my trip seemed to be the cause of this incident. Which is something we hadn't expected. He assumed he would be just fine."
"So what is it you did that caused this?" He asked, knowing she knew some detail.
"You'll have to ask him. All I know is that Shukaku-san bothered him senseless." She whimpered, holding her hands to her chest. It hurt that she caused him such pain.
He nodded, leaving her without as much as a farewell.
"Kazekage-sama," Baki said pointedly. Not a good sign, Gaara looked up at the man who trained him with some irritation at his formal scolding behavior.
"Yes, Baki?" He answered through his teeth.
"I think we need to talk." He stated.
Gaara inwardly growled. "We are." He pointed out sternly.
"About the recent incident." He clarified.
He was hoping he could avoid this. "What about it?"
"What caused the meltdown, what she did to stop it, how we might prevent this in the future." Baki listed off.
"Shukaku didn't like her being away and reacted violently. She came back. She asked him to stop and promised us she wouldn't be leaving. Her keeping the promise should be all we need." He told him dismissively and with high irritation.
Baki narrowed at him. "That's all? The beast just listens to and believes her?"
"Baki, if I understood what had happened, I would tell you more. The bottom line is Shukaku decided he disliked her being gone, and he was going to drive me insane until she came back." He rubbed his temples. "She is just as confused if not more so than I am. No one is at fault. It is just something we will deal with like I always have."
His teacher's harsh look broke. He rubbed his temple. "I do not like relying so heavily on her. She has no ties that hold her promises."
"She does." Gaara denied. "She's my friend, she's my fiance, and she will be my wife. She doesn't want to go home. She even disliked her stay, according to Kankuro." He would keep her.
"Friend." His teacher snorted.
Gaara blinked in surprise at his teacher's reaction.
"Sure," Baki mumbled, amused, waving his hand through Gaara wasn't sure he could so easily brush it off.
He wasn't sure if he was going insane again or if everyone around him was.
"Hinata! I found it!" Temari ran toward her, and Hinata braced. Luckily the larger woman didn't test her strength and stopped before he ran into her, holding up a tattered flat box giddy.
"What did you find?" Hinata asked half-amused, half scared of her excitement.
"Mother's headpiece! It's perfect!" She opened the old box showing her a dusty silver string of chains. Simple and elegant, no massive jewels, small polished non-precious stones, and clear glass settings. Likely from a poorer time. It was beautiful and fit Hinata's need for simplicity.
"It is, though it needs some cleaning." She lightly touched the dusty metal in wonder, Gaara's mother once wore this. She hadn't dared ask about his parents, knowing that at least his father held bad memories for him. She hoped since Temari was excited it wasn't a touchy enough subject he would reject her wearing something of his mother's.
"What was that saying for your weddings, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?" Temari wondered idly.
"Not really a worry of mine, but this would be old and borrowed." She liked to ignore that one because many women make their 'something blue' a garter, and she would not be wearing one for removal if she could help it.
Hinata collapsed in her spot, freshly showered, and from what he could tell, sore. She tried not to make any noise of discomfort, but it was clear she was hurt.
Worry washed over him. Had he hurt her, did she hold bruises from him? She had stayed with him the whole night and slept with him childishly clinging to her. Had he held on too tight? He mentally berated himself and Shukaku for being so possessive.
"Gaara?" Hinata asked, unusually closer than she should be. He looked up to see her worried eyes as she leaned over his desk. How long had she been trying to get his attention? "Is something wrong?"
He sighed. He was causing more problems by not just voicing his concerns, now she was worried about him. "You're injured." He answered.
"Oh, just a little sore. I've gone back to working on your present. It's odd physical work, not muscles I use in training, odd bending. Kankuro-san is pretty sore too." She explained, tilting her head knowingly. "You didn't think it was you did you?"
He inwardly cringed. She was getting too good at reading his discomfort. "I did."
"No, you didn't. I didn't even wake up with a sore neck." She assured him. "How did you sleep? I didn't get to ask." They started late, she had forced him to eat a large lunch and dinner, and both rushed off to their duties.
"And I didn't ask about your trip." He agreed. He looked at the already forgotten paperwork that had been boring him on his desk. "Walk then?"
She nodded with a smile.
They left his office, walking in circles through the halls. She told him of her time, though he felt like she was making it happier than it seemed or leaving whatever Kankuro had mentioned out. If she was avoiding it, it was likely better to keep to herself.
Shukaku's purring was much more soothing than his constant growling, and he was enjoying the color of her cheeks and her smile.
"I think this one will have to be a real address to the council." Temari rubbed her face, placing the paper in front of Hinata. She picked it up and looked it over.
"It may be a difficult point to argue." She mumbled. "But I didn't think it was going to be easy."
"Okay, we will make an appointment then." Temari took note. "Think you can make him wet himself this time?" Temari chuckled to reply.
"I'm not sure that's a goal someone should have." Hinata countered.
"Ready?" Kankuro asked though it seemed he was way more nervous than she was.
"Yes." She entered first, knowing where she had to go now. The podium now had a stool that sat the height of the podium. They assumed this was going to be a long meeting. She didn't sit. She instead moved the chair under the podium and stood tall at the podium, setting her papers where they needed to be.
She felt the room stiffen, everyone even Kankuro, had sat. She was already showing power over them.
She greeted the council. They went silent as the head greeted back stiffly.
"The Hyuga negotiations went well, in my opinion." She started. "My clan can be difficult though I don't believe anything here is unreasonable, and all will strengthen relations with Konoha." She flipped idly through her papers rather than looking up, disinterested, another power play. "I pressed them to benefit Suna. The Hyuga has much they can offer."
"We're not sure why the Hyuga require a living space or why we should give it to them." He bit out as politely as he could.
"I'm not sure if you are aware of Hyuga customs." She continued dismissively. "We are protective of our secrets. The seal provides protection, even when it is out of the reach of the compound." She looked up pointedly. "Seeing as I am part of the main house and have stayed unbranded even in the marriage. I require protection."
"Does the Hyuga assume that Suna cannot protect you?" He asked, trying to back her into a corner.
"That's exactly what they think." Kankuro flinched with the rest of the room. "As much as I may trust Suna's protection. The Hyuga have made a point to never trust anyone outside of the clan for protection for our secrets." She explained, marginally softening the blow.
"So they want us to make them a place to live so they can protect you?" He bit out, starting to lose his patients.
"Oh no, if you read the documents, which I am sure you have, but maybe you just didn't make a note of it." She opened the correct folder. "The Hyuga only ask for land so they can build themselves a small compound. Every member that comes to the new compound can be transferred to Suna-nin and will serve with the same dedication as we have in Konoha." She explained. "I found the medical facilities in Suna could use improvement compared to what Konoha has even standard. I prompted them to offer their help in return for the inconvenience." She nearly pulled her teeth out to get that approved.
The head of the council chewed on his tongue furtively. "How gracious." He said coldly.
"How did you stand for all that?" Kankuro rubbed his back. "I was sitting, and I'm sore." Kankuro was beyond tired, and at one point, she had had to address him just to keep him awake.
"I've had to stand through longer meetings than that." She admitted.
"Ugh." Kankuro flopped comically onto the couch, making her giggle at his dramatics.