Hinata smiled across the room as she sat in the sun. Watching Gaara cater to his cacti was so sweet. He was gentle with the little pots. She wondered if it was me because he was afraid he would break it rather than it being able to prick him. Maybe one of the reasons he started was it forced him to be gentle.
"I don't know what this is." Hinata blinked out of her thoughts as he pointed to one of her plants she had moved out of the sun.
"It's spinach. I'm having a hard time with it, it's too warm" She moved over to it, spraying it with her water bottle. "Have you ever had it?"
"I do not believe so." He admitted.
"If I can get it to grow, I'll make sure you try it." She smiled.
"Have you ever had a prickly pear?" He wondered.
"What is that?" She blinked.
"It's a cactus fruit." He explained.
"I didn't know they had fruit." She looked at the little cactus around the room. "They don't grow on these, do they."
"No, they grow on bigger ones." He showed her the size of the fruit with his hands.
"Oh, well, I will have to try that when you try spinach." She smiled.
She closed her eyes and frowned. If she read one more complaint from the newest arrivals about it being too hot and dry in their hotel during the day and too cold during the night, she was going to send an invite to sleep outside. It was a desert. What did they expect? Why was everyone surprised that it was hot? She understood not to expect the cold at night, but they didn't expect hot.
"Will you send someone this time?" Gaara wondered from his desk.
"No, I'm not giving this attention. There is no reason to cater to them any more than we have. There is no miss information they knew the village hidden in the desert was a desert village." Hinata grumbled, setting the paper in the garbage beside her.
Kankuro laughed. "You've become more brutal the more you've lived here, starting to get that Suna thick skin."
"I think there is a difference between brutal and not giving in to ridiculous requests. I used to deal with the guests in the Hyuga manner as well. Delegates and political dignitaries complain about the most unimportant things." She sighed. She remembered someone complained because the small trickling stream running in their koi pond was keeping her up at night.
"I was honestly expecting the Hyuga to be worse with as much trouble we had with the building project." Kankuro added.
"Well the Hyuga that came not only knew what they were to expect but also wanted to make a good impression. They kept quiet and got used to their environment before voicing concerns. My father can be the worst about it. He once complained about the thread count on the sheets." She frowned, embarrassed.
Kankuro burst out laughing. "Your father is so prissy."
"I believe they practice it to make your host believe that you are already disgruntled so that they will be more catering. However, knowing that growing up with this annoying practice, I have no tolerance for it." She huffed. "If you have to pick apart something like 'it being hot in the desert' then they have no actual problems and are just complaining."
"I will keep that in mind." He nodded in interest.
"Now it's not always the case if someone came during and we had an unexpected sandstorm out of season, I would understand the complaint, or maybe the staff being rude for no reason." She had gotten complaints that the 'woman was standoffish' but she had found that to be a dignitary hitting on women that were just not interested.
"Yeah, I wouldn't expect anyone to be happy about something like that." He shrugged.
"If anyone I sent did something like that, I would fire them." Gaara suddenly chimed in.
"I couldn't see anyone from Suna doing so, even the council. Suna has too much pride in their adaptability. Now, if the living situation was subpar, I can see someone from the council complaining but not a nin." Kankuro nodded in agreement.
"Keep your mouth shut and complain when you get home." He added.
The best time to see Gaara at his calmest was early in the morning. He wasn't quite awake enough to be irritated, and he just let anything blow over him till he was awake enough to be irritated. Hinata loved the calmness in the morning, especially now with his change in temper being so quick to irritation.
He slipped his arms around her shoulders as she brushed her hair, effectively impeding her efforts. She set her brush down and set her hand on his arm, and looked up at him in the mirror. "Are you alright?" She hummed, closing her eyes and leaning back on him.
"Yes." He laid his face on her shoulder.
"Is there something you want?" She wondered, enjoying his heat. The sun hadn't yet warmed the desert.
"I want to go back to bed." He mumbled.
She frowned. He said more and more, the lack of power catching up to him. He was becoming more 'normal' by the day. Needing more regular meals, recognizing when he is hungry, needed more sleep, wanting to sleep.
"Maybe we should append our schedule, so we get to work later or to bed earlier. You, don't take naps toward the end of the night as I have." She offered, picking her brush back up and working around him.
"Perhaps." He mumbled.
"How do you feel?" She asked, giving up on brushing her hair while he was clinging to her.
"Hungry." She smiled.
"You're always hungry now." She sighed. She looked at him through the mirror, his eyes closed, his hair still a mess. She set a hand in his hair and gently combed through it. "Do you feel weak at all?"
"In general." He grumbled.
"I mean physically, not power-wise." She clarified.
"More heavy and tired." He answered sighing. "Is that not to be expected?"
"If you're feeling heavy and tired all the time, but you are constantly eating, you probably are not sleeping enough for the amount of energy you are outputting. You probably don't feel weak because you are eating all the time. If you eat a normal amount, you would likely have fainted by now." She frowned.
"I will adjust our schedule accordingly." He mumbled. He was not happy about getting less work done in a day, but his health came first. It would be worse off if he got sick.
"Thank you." She hummed.
"For?" He glanced up at her in the mirror.
"For taking care of yourself." He stared confused at her soft look.