Sand whipped around outside at its own volition. He ruffled his clean hair as his wife combed the sand out of hers.
"This is unfair." She giggled, looking at him through the mirror. Her face caked with dust and some small blotches of blood, not her own, thankfully.
"You did not wish to come with me." He reminded her. She had originally come with him to check the wall but insisted they split for duties.
She gave him a small pout at him, turning her eyes back down to her dark hair. He did not understand. She had wanted to go on her own. Why would she then complain of the consequences?
He moved forward to slip off her scarf, leaving sand to pile on the floor. She flinched. "I think I got more in my clothes than out."
For some reason, that amused him as he continued to unlayer robes from her, briefly interrupting her combing. She giggled, looking at him through the mirror, turning somewhat red. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Your clothes are covered with sand." He mumbled, shaking her robes left the sand to fall to the floor.
She hummed and got an odd shy smile as she went back to focusing on her hair. She eventually set her comb down with a click and sighed, looking down at her underset of clothing off her black wrap dress and training shorts. "You didn't finish." She stated in a mumble, her face was getting redder.
Was she wanting to be naked while brushing her hair? Taking off her dress for her would have been difficult while she was combing as she had it tied on the hip farthest from him.
She looked at him with amusement before giggling, covering her face with both hands hiding behind them. "I don't think you understood.".
He hadn't.
Hinata thought she was naive, or at least, that's what she was told. She couldn't try flirting without actually showing physical attention to have him understand. She didn't mind his blank, confused expression. It was cute. She couldn't help but laugh at his face as it got more confused with every try.
If she wanted attention, she would have to ask for it or get it herself. It would help if she didn't find it so embarrassing.
"Why don't you bathe with me." She asked, untying her dress and unwrapped it. She pulled the part that was solid over her head then set to work on her chest binder, which of course, also filled uncomfortably with sand.
"I am not dirty." He replied, watching her with mild interest though he seemed more interested in how the sand stuck to her skin than what skin the sand was on.
"I know." She hummed, finishing her underdressing and starting the water, feeling the need to cover her chest. "I still would like company. I will be here for a while."
"You will be clean when you enter the bath." He mumbled, confused but still undressed per her asking as she sat at the traditional shower station outside the bath.
"I know." She affirmed again, holding out a sponge to him and pulling her hair from her shoulders, showing the set of scratches she knew laid over her shoulders from his short dull nails. She hoped he could see them over how red she was becoming. She could feel him stare at her before finally getting her point.
"I see." He hummed, setting the sponge aside for better use of his hands.
Her office door slammed open, making her jump and look up at the arch to someone she didn't recognize but looked upset. "Is this how you treat guests to your village!" He snapped.
She stared for another moment before setting down her papers, tucking away any sensitive documents, and sat up straight. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what it is you mean."
"To have us come in the horrid weather. What is wrong with you!?" He shouted.
She knitted her eyebrows together and tumbled down through her notes. She tapped her finger on what was most likely what he was a part of on her list. "Might you have the scroll we sent? All trade agreements and travel between villages, unless urgent supplies are scheduled before or after storm season. We warned any group coming in that we advise to wait until it safe to travel to this part of the desert."
She could feel the man's rage heighten with her low, calm tone. She didn't understand how she made people angry by staying calm. "You should not have us here in this!" He waved at her heavily covered window. "This should have compensation."
She pierced her lips together and looked up at him with a sigh. "If you risked your life to come during storm season when we told you to reschedule with the thought in mind that you would be able to blame our village and make your negotiations easier, you are mistaken."
"Are you accusing me of..!" She cut him off.
"Yes." She stated. "I am sympathetic to misunderstanding, but Suna does not take well to being conned."
He snapped his mouth shut as his head turned redder. "Be glad you burst into my office rather than that of my husband's. I will allow you to redeem yourself. He would toss you back into the storm."
"Your Kage would force us out into a deadly storm?" He accused her.
"Well you've made it one way." She stated. "I will dismiss you for now. Feel free to wait to use our care facilities as the other citizens do. Special treatment is for those who have made mistakes. I would be happy to hear your negotiations when you have the mind to apologize and work fairly." She looked up, waiting for a rebuttal, but instead, he glared and turned to stomp out. He nearly ran into Temari, who gave him a wide amused smirk as he continued his fluster retreat.
"I think Gaara is rubbing off on you." She hummed as she closed the door.
Hinata looked down, looking for traces of her husband's blood-colored hair before catching the meaning. "Was I too harsh?" She whispered.
"No, in fact, I would have thrown him out to fend in the storm." She stated, sitting and crossing her legs. "I don't have your patience for bullshit."
"I believe that mistakes should be given a second chance. However, I also know that Suna is very strict with deception." She settled with. She hoped she was clear enough. She never quite knew if she was doing a good job. Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Matsuri, and Baki were all blunt and to the point, but she also knew that they treated her with far more care and kindness than other staff. She wasn't sure if that was due to her Konoha birth or her being Gaara's wife. Someone once told her that she was hard to be mean to because the pure sadness she displayed with failure was painful to see. She was sure that was true. Her father had never had trouble with it. She hoped it wasn't that she was hard to tell her she was doing poorly. If she was doing poorly, she wanted to improve.
"It was fine, we're all too hard on things like that anyway, cuts out a lot of deals we should have made." Temari waved her hand, pushing away some of the insecurities. "Though since Gaara has grown to his position, I do enjoy watching him rip into politics and merchants with his tone rather than his sand."
Hinata's nose twitched at the morbid notion. "I would hope it's better."
Temari laughed at her face.
Gaara picked up the begging child with mild discomfort. He still was not a fan of being touched by those who were not his wife. The child, Etsu, sat on his hip as he had seen his sister and wife do and stuck her thumb in her mouth, saying no more. Was there a point to her wanting him to hold her?
Shukaku disliked the child. He disliked small humans more than normal humans. It was one of the lesser reasons Gaara had grown up so quickly was his dislike for any childlike thoughts.
However, the child was calm and tolerable, and killing her would upset Hinata, so it wasn't an option.
His wife, sister, and student giggled in the kitchen over tea and poorly made cakes that his student had attempted something about having to change amounts of ingredients for dry climates.
He studied the wilting child as she went from simply bored with the three to falling asleep. He was unsure what to do with it once it did.
Hinata broke from the group presenting him with a cookie and smiling at the child who had all but fallen asleep. She set a hand on her back and leaned up to kiss him before taking the now dead weight.
He took the hard cookie she offered as she smiled and walked back off.
Is this what a normal man saw? A wife cuddling a child, did it have more effect when the child was yours? These were questions he may never have the answer to.