Hinata blinked as her wrist tugged, suddenly making her drop her pen. She stared at the bracelet Shukaku hadn't taken back in confusion. It had never moved more than to reshape. As she wondered if it had been her imagination and a muscle twitch, it jerked again.
"Alright, I'm coming." She whispered, setting her paperwork aside as she quickly found the issue.
"Get! Out!" Gaara's voice came from inside his office as three people half fled, half were thrown into the hall. She moved closer, feeling sand particles jittering in the hall swaying around her legs like the ends of her robes.
The door slammed back shut before she got far.
"Are you alright?" She asked the one of the three that had been more so thrown out then fled.
"That man is insane! He has no sense of reason! He should not be making relations with other countries!" The older man ranted as she helped him up.
"I'm not sure what you are here for, so I'm not sure what you are talking about." She glanced over them, noticing the village symbol on their clothing. She frowned. Actually, she did know what this was about.
"That man should not be making decisions he knows nothing about." He screeched.
She tried to keep her face flat as she helped dust him off. "He is a well respected Kage in this area of the world." She tried.
"What the hell would you know about it? You don't even know what this is about!" He growled, pushing her away.
Hinata let her face harden a little. "I happen to be his wife." His eyebrows came down as he finally actually looked at her. "I find him quite pleasant. I am also the one who was handling relations with the organization you represent in your village, and your behavior when dealing with Konoha made me wary of making any quick deals. I'm sure that Gaara had explained to you that we are willing to look further into your wares if you would give us time to properly evaluate contracts and your suppliers. Suna does not take kindly to being rushed."
"You're the poor woman he bought." Her arm jerked toward the door, but she made no move to obey the sand on her wrist.
"You are very misinformed." She told him firmly.
His companions shrank behind him, trying to indicate to him it was time to leave. "Why else would someone marry the Suna monster."
"I find Shukaku-san quite pleasant as well." The tugging stopped. She would have to scold him for listening.
"He has you brainwashed." The man waved his pointy finger in her face.
"Boss," One of them pulled him back. "Show a little more respect. That's the former Hyuga heiress." He squeaked out. "She can paralyze you." Was whispered in at the end.
"This shrew?" He was only half-heard as he was tossed down the halls.
"Shukaku-san no!" She squeaked as the sand ball that had come out from under the door formed a much more vicious version of her little tanuki. He stopped her from heading down the hall to help him up.
"They're all insane." The old man grumbled as his companions helped him up. This time they headed out much quicker.
"Shukaku-san." She frowned at him as he turned his mass toward her and shrank back down to adorable size. "No, you are not getting away with this." He jumped toward her, and she was pushed toward the door as he opened it and then shoved inside. "Shukaku-san!" She squeaked as she stumbled in to see the issue.
Gaara slumped over his desk, holding his head, the sand left behind by Shukaku swirled around the room angrily. He glanced up at her briefly and sighed.
"Are you okay?" She asked, being released so she could move on her own to behind his desk.
He merely tugged her toward his chair, burying his face into her stomach. She threaded her fingers through his hair and soothed him. Slowly all the sand settled around the office. Dropping lifeless like dust.
Hinata didn't ask any more questions, just let him force out his frustrations into her skin. His breathing evened out from the frustrated huffing he had had when she came in.
Hinata worried about his health as she brushed through his tangled hair. So much stress so young would be detrimental to him at some point, she was sure. She sighed, leaning down what she could to kiss the top of his head. "I will handle them in the future. Have them sent to me."
"He insulted you." Came a muffled growl from her stomach.
So he had been listening, or Shukaku had told him. "I'm not bothered by a minor insult on my person. I'm worried about Shukaku-san's temper hurting relations." She admitted looking over to the tanuki that had formed on the desk to nudge her hip. She released a tangled hand from his hair to pat the beast's head. "I want you to be comfortable, and I was handling their relations before. I hadn't known they had come to speak of the relations in person. They made no indication in their negotiations or notes. You could have called me."
"Shukaku tried. However, even if you came at the moment, he called it would have been after that old... man opened his mouth." He explained, moving his head back from his spot to look up at her.
Hinata smiled down at him. "I will be quicker in the future. What were they even here for? I made it quite clear that we would only give a definitive answer after research." She looked toward the closed door in wonder.
"They told me my 'secretary' had no clue what she was doing, and they were insulted they had been pushed to a 'minor' in the government." She was sure if rolling his eyes was something he did, he would.
"He called me your secretary?" She giggled. It wasn't the first time someone had mistaken her signature. It was widespread that he had been married, but it didn't seem as widespread that she had replaced Temari, especially those they didn't work closely with.
The lack of a matching surname never helped.
However, even with all those factors, rarely had anyone ever flat out thought she was a secretary. Assistant, adviser, 'helper,' but never could she remember someone directly saying secretary to her husband. It was quite laughable. She understood what had made him so upset.
"I will handle them with their insults to my person and the village in mind." She promised, leaning down to kiss his forehead.
Temari spun around for her and clicked the heels, testing them. "What do you think."
"I think the lazy prick isn't going to notice what you're wearing, so why do you try." Kankuro ducked, as a brush was hurled in his direction.
"I think it's lovely." Hinata smiled, amused by the older woman's excitement.
"But, can you argue and nag in it," Kankuro asked, raising an eyebrow?
"You are pushing your luck." Temari frowned, placing a manicured hand on her hip.
Matsuri rushed past people down the hall and called for her. "Hinata, wait!"
She turned only to almost be run into by the frantic woman. "What is it?"
"I need help. Etsu got into a fight, and I'm not sure she understands me." Matsuri looked tired. Hinata offered her and a light smile.
"Let me put this down in my office and tell Gaara I am going out." She prompted.
"I don't know why you're mad. I want to be a ninja too!" Etsu squealed, tears pouring down her face.
"Etsu, ninja don't just fight because they're provoked. What you did is bad." Matsuri pressed.
Hinata frowned. Matsuri wasn't doing anything wrong; this seemed to be a miscommunication. "Etsu-chan, how about you come with me for a little while? We can take a walk."
Etsu whined loudly, looking at her in fear and running behind Matsuri's legs. "I don't want to go back! I want to stay with my new mother! Don't take me back! I'll be good!"
Hinata's heart clenched, and she and Matsuri shared a broken-hearted look. "Oh, Etsu-chan, I am not taking you back to the orphanage. I just want to talk. We won't even go in the direction of the orphanage, I promise."
"Promise?" She whimpered.
"I promise, Etsu-chan," Hinata told her seriously.
"If you ever go back to the orphanage, it's just to visit your friends. This is your home now." Matsuri kneeled to her.
"Okay." She whimpered, rubbing her eyes and reaching out to Hinata, who picked her up.
"We will be back," Hinata promised Matsuri, who looked like she was about to cry herself.
"Why is she so mad," Etsu asked, playing with Hinata's braid with her head laid on her shoulder. Hinata strolled toward the edge of town, just aimlessly.
"Etsu-chan, you did something that you shouldn't, and Masturi-san is trying to make you understand why you can't." She tried.
"But I did what she does." Hinata knew this was going to be difficult.
"Well, no. As ninja, we train to protect our village, and when you see people fighting in the village, they are training. It is discouraged to fight because you are mad at someone, and it's not okay, especially if that person is a civilian."
"I don't get it." She whimpered.
Hinata hummed, trying to make it simpler. "When we fight to hurt, it is to protect the village. Training is a way to help skills, but we don't fight to hurt each other or because we are mad. Those who do aren't supposed to. These are things they will teach you in the academy. You should be able to go next year."
"But he hit me first." She defended.
"The best ninjas know when to defend themselves and when it is best to remove themselves from the situation. I think you should have told the nearest adult instead of hitting him with a rock." Hinata tried. "I think you scared Matsuri-san as well." She still had the boy's blood on her shirt.
"I didn't mean to make her mad." She whimpered.
"I know." She hummed. "How about we hold off on any fighting until you start the academy, go straight to the nearest adult and tell them someone is trying to hurt you."
"Isn't that a tattle tail?" She asked.
"Did it hurt? Did they mean it to hurt?" She asked.
"Yeah." She had a big bruise on her shoulder.
"Then it's not tattling. If you see anyone purposely or accidentally hurting someone else or trying to, I want you to tell someone." She explained.
"Okay." She agreed.
"And stay out of fights for me, okay?" She laid her head on the little girl's hair.
"Promise." She nodded.
"Good girl, let's head back." Something was still bothering Hinata. "Why did you think we would take you back to the orphanage."
"People take bad children back to the orphanage because they don't want them. Mother said I had done something bad." Hinata's heart bled for the little thing.
"Matsuri-san isn't going to take you back, I promise. You're not going back. If anything were to happen and Matsuri-san couldn't take care of you, you can come home with me." She assured her.
"I want to stay with my mother." Hinata smiled.
"She's not letting you go anywhere."
Matsuri couldn't look more relieved to see her daughter sleeping in Hinata's arms when she got back.
"Thank you so much." She helped Hinata lay her down.
"I think you two just scared each other. I think you should avoid the word bad." Hinata briefly explained why and Matsuri covered her face.
"I can't believe I didn't think of that." She stressed.
"I think I have an idea to help. How about you get her a house key and put it on a chain. Let her wear it all the time, so she knows she can always come back." Hinata offered.
"I can do that." She peeked through her fingers toward the mat.
"You didn't do anything wrong either. You didn't know, you were scared. It's alright now." Hinata assured.
"Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done." She sighed.
"I think you would have figured something out, but I'm glad I could help." Hinata smiled, giving her a light touch to her arm, surprised when she was encircled in a hug. She didn't take Matsuri as a hugger.
Then again, she was tired.