When she was informed that the next Hyuga meeting would be sat in on by the new Hokage. She requested the Kazekage be invited to do the same. This was met with some uncomfortable resistance, but they couldn't quite say no. So, as she stood in her spot for the review of her last proposal, Naruto and Gaara sat on either side of her.
"The representative from Suna has retracted the assistance of Suna's workforce in the building of the Hyuga compound as previously agreed upon in the contract when she was married to Kazekage. We find this a break in the contract and issue between the two villages." The representative spoke.
"So, this is all over a building?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.
"It will be the place the Hyuga will practice and protect the Byakugan." He answered.
He nodded hesitantly. "So why is Suna refusing to help build it? Are you not paying them?" Naruto's way with words needed more practice. "Because I read the contract, and that's in there."
"They refuse to build it in the way intended by the design." He explained.
Hinata was disgusted by how nice and civil the speaker was to Naruto when they had spent the last couple of days lashing out at her.
Naruto's face scrunched up as he looked over at her. "Huh?" He was not briefed too well before this, likely unable to as it was a clan matter to them.
"The plans sent can not be realistically built by the Suna workforce. It is made with materials they are not familiar with and focuses too heavily on design and not on structure. Buildings in Suna must be built structurally sound enough for sandstorms. The design needed to be changed, or it may fall." She explained firmly.
Gaara's eyebrows knitted together. She hadn't been telling him everything that was going on, mostly just the insults they had made directly on her person or about her being in the government. So this was the first time he had heard the meat of why they were here.
"The Hyuga has a reputation to uphold and..." The speaker started but didn't get the rest of the sentence out.
"A reputation that is more important than the lives of those inside of the building?" Gaara's deep voice boomed through the room.
The speaker looked at him in shock of being interrupted so violently.
Gaara stared the man down. "Sandstorms are no small matter. I have pulled bodies of children out of structures when they had not been repaired properly, or the storm had been too violent for budgeted builds. Are you trying to indicate that your pride and reputation is more important than people you are sending to us?" The room went so cold, you could see people shiver. "If that is the case, and they have so little worth, we do not want them."
Hinata knew his political style was much harsher than hers, but even she was a little unnerved by his sudden anger.
Even Naruto looked unsure of Gaara's severity.
Naruto hesitantly looked between his friend and the Hyuga speaker and sat up straighter uncomfortably. "I guess, if the building isn't safe and Suna can't build or repair it, then it shouldn't be built. The building plans weren't in the contract, just the drafts were, so changes can be demanded to make it safe without breaking the contract, as you imply. If Suna believes there is a mortality rate in building it the way it is now, that would be worse than faulting the part of the contract." Naruto concluded. He looked unsettled when he looked up to see an entire massive room of steely pale eyes looking at him.
Hinata nodded. "Well then." She brought the attention back to her. "Suna is prepared to continue with the original agreement, by helping build and find suitable materials within the means of the village with the new plans that are structurally sound and only then. I retract my earlier offer to allow the compound to be built without the help of Suna through other means as the Kazekage has indicated his ruling on having a building that will fall. On that note, we hope to hear from you about your decision soon after our return to Suna." She gave a short bow and stepped down.
The four, Hinata, Gaara, Hanabi, and Naruto, all left the room. Gaara seething, Naruto looking slightly confused, Hinata feeling relieved, and Hanabi practically hopping up and down.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Hanabi cheered, hugging her and then leaping at Gaara, who froze in shock and confusion. She hopped back from him without even noticing his discomfort as she jittered around Hinata once more. Hinata gave him an apologetic smile.
Hinata tried to wrangle her sister. "It's fine, it's my job, but please in the future insist on sending these kinds of things that have nothing to do with our secrets to the Suna council. They would have shut this down days ago." She advised.
"I… panicked," Hanabi mumbled, looking ashamed.
"It's alright you're learning to be head. It's okay to ask for help. Just don't take them too seriously. Sometimes they will threaten big things just to push your hand on small matters. Find bigger issues to send Neji on a non-stop trip for, okay?" She gave her sister a reassuring smile. "Send me a sealed briefing, and I'll send back advice."
"Okay." She hugged her again. "It was a good excuse to have you around."
"Yes, however, please make the social visits in the future planned. I had to disappoint a lot of children." She noted.
"Children?" Hanabi asked in confusion. Hinata could see her trying to do the math of how long she had been away in her head and whether or not she should be mad.
"Orphans," Hinata said quickly. "I have been spending time with them. They don't get much attention." Hinata briefly explained the issues in the system.
"That sounds terrible. I wish I could say the compound could be of help, but with all the secrets, it would be hard to take on children." Hanabi whimpered.
"I'm not asking for more help than I have now, though I hope some of the Hyuga find interest in helping the community." Hinata reassured.
Her father made a point to say nothing to her before she left, just give her a disapproving frown. She made a few social visits and made Shukaku upset when she took a while to play with Akamaru. At least he had the decency to wait until they left to beg for attention in massive form. Gaara stood close but didn't say much for most of the trip.
They stopped for the night. She wasn't in a big enough rush to get home as to let their guard suffer.
Hinata sat on their travel mat, Shukaku curled around her back, and Gaara stared into the small fire.
"You still look upset." She noted to him.
"I find your clan insufferable. They find how they are viewed over their lives." He growled. She didn't know what he expected. Her hand in marriage was offered to him as casually as a cup of tea.
"This wasn't just about that." He looked to her in interest. "This would have been nothing more than an empty threat just to make a fuss about the changes, something they could add to a larger problem later. They would use it as extra evidence if they thought we weren't holding to the agreements in the future, but Hanabi-chan panicked. When I came to her call, now they had to make a big deal. Not only had I made the trip, so had you. Then it became a matter that I was handling, not Temari-nee-chan." She felt like she was rambling, but that was how convoluted this all became. She glanced up to notice Gaara was still fully attentive. "Then they found out how much of the Suna government I have been handed to oversee and that started something else entirely. Something they couldn't bring up in front of you and Naruto-kun. They would have been better off if they hadn't involved him. However, I believe that was my father's decision, and he hadn't been sitting in on the meetings, so he didn't know how little they had."
"Why did it end so quickly with me? We have been here for days." Gaara's eyebrows knitted forward in confusion.
"That is partly my fault. Though, not something I can internally help." She sighed. "They will always see me as their failed heiress. I will never be more than that. My position only caused conflict." She tilted her head. "And I was trying to keep my sister out of the line of fire, claiming I came because it was under my hand, not because I called for help."
"Your sister is inexperienced." He noted.
Hinata frowned at him and nodded. "I was raised to be a politician. She was raised to beat me in a fight. She wasn't raised to be head in a traditional way. It will cause problems. She's free-spirited, and without the wall they tried to build between us, she has realized what they were giving her blinders to. The Hyuga will find that raising her strong-willed and competitive will make her a fierce feared leader when she finds her footing. She's still young and scared, but once she matured, Hanabi will be far harder to work with than I would have ever been."
"I dislike shadow politics." He frowned.
"You made a mistake in partner choice then." She whispered this was all trying. Shukaku laid his large sand tail over her, and she leaned back on him.
"I don't think so."
When they got back, they immediately sat through briefings of what had happened while they were gone, luckily nothing too big had happened, and nothing had collapsed.
Hinata met with Temari and Matsuri on her own to explain what new information she brought back from Konoha. Matsuri was constantly playing with the edge of her folder until the end.
"I think that is for today. Thank you so much for taking my work while I handled the Hyuga." She concluded.
"May I speak with you about one more thing?" Matsuri's voice eyes locked determined on her folder.
"Of course." Hinata nodded, surprised by Matsuri's behavior.
Temari gave a wave as she left, and Hinata wondered briefly if she knew what she wanted. "It's about the orphanage."
"Oh was it too much trouble? I hoped..." She started.
"No, no!" She interrupted. "I will probably continue to go, it's um… I want to submit this." She pulled a packet of papers out of the back of her folder.
Hinata looked over the papers finding it was a nearly filled out adoption form.
She glanced up and back down, processing it.
"These are for you?" Hinata realized.
Matsuri nodded, shrinking. Hinata had never seen her do that before. Was she looking for her blessing? Was she worried she wouldn't get it?
"Because I don't have a partner, I haven't thought about children and as a ninja. I think it would be irresponsible to become pregnant so early in my career. I am at the age most civilians start having children." She defended.
"Please don't think… I am just surprised. I didn't expect this." Hinata explained.
Matsuri sighed in relief and sat down, slumping her normally firm shoulders. "I wasn't either. I got so easily attached and realized that I may never have children simply because I may never find someone to have them with." She huffed. "I'm not interested in a relationship and courting." She wrinkled her nose. "You know you got it easy, Gaara knew you two days before he proposed, and you ended up perfectly fine."
"We aren't the norm." Hinata smiled.
"I'm an orphan too." She confessed. "I was taken in by and bounced around to some family until I was of age. I could live in the barracks, but I did a lot of time being relatively unwanted, so I know what that place feels like."
"I'm sorry I didn't know..." Hinata covered her mouth and frowned.
"No. It's fine. I barely remember it." Matsuri interjected.
Looking down at the names on the form, Hinata lost her frown. "I think Etsu-chan would love it if you took her home."
"I hope so. I wanted to make sure I could get it approved before I told her." Matsuri tried to fight her smile.
The two were a perfect match, determined, strong females. Etsu's bright optimism and bright confidence would work well with Hanabi's work ethic and attitude in Hinata's opinion. Just what a budding ninja needed, a mother who would be critical but appreciative of her work. "I'll be happy to babysit if you're on missions."
"Oh, that's another thing." She flicked through the papers in between them and quickly find a page. "I added something. Baba said you said something about godparents." Hinata skimmed the page. "I know me being a ninja puts her at risk to go back, and I don't want that. I..." She paused as Hinata found what she had scrawled in. "want you to be her godmother if something were to happen to me."
"You have thought about this. We were only gone for a little over two weeks." Hinata mumbled.
Matsuri sat back in her chair with a huff. "I can't stop thinking about it." She opened her mouth to say more but shook her head and ruffled her hair. "Am I getting ahead of myself." She whispered.
Hinata pierced her lips together. "Why did you want me to approve these, Matsuri-san? These don't need to come this high to get approved." Hinata felt like she knew the answer.
Matsuri frowned. "I wanted your opinion. I trust your judgment, and I know you'll be honest if you need to be, but won't be cruel if I am over my head."
"How about I put these on my stack, and we'll go together tomorrow, and you can have a chance to show me you can do this. Then I will give you my signature." Matsuri perked with determination. "But I think you should be the one to tell Gaara."
Matsuri froze. Hinata giggled.