War?
Hinata held up one of the open messages on his desk. She picked up another that seemed to be a response he was making back to Konoha. She had only meant to straighten his desk and wait for him to come back from his council meeting. She was fully aware there was rising tension and looming Akatsuki threat, but he had never mentioned they were preparing for war.
Hinata checked the clearance on the letter to Konoha. It was her level, dated back a few days. It should have passed through her hands by now.
She felt sick to her stomach. Had he been hiding it to protect her from the stress?
She put her hand on her chest and sat down in his chair as she let the arising dizziness pass. It was reasonable, she tried to tell herself. He had no reason to tell her. She took a couple of deep breaths to force away from the panic.
The door opened, and she looked up. Gaara came through and looked at her curiously. After a few seconds, he recognized something was abnormal. She looked down to collect her thoughts. "I'm sorry. I was just straightening your desk." She whispered, getting up. Even if he had no issue with her going about his desk, it was still an intrusion if she saw something he didn't want her to.
He didn't seem confused, but nothing seemed to come to mind why she was acting odd until he sat down and noticed what was on top. He looked back up at her with a flat look of something close to shame.
She waved her hands to tell him to stop. "I don't need to know about it." She mumbled. Maybe it was for the best. "I understand. I wasn't looking for it. I was just cleaning, and it was there. I'm just shocked."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, looking down at it. "I have to send Naruto my response on his request to begin preparing for a battle with the Akatsuki." He admitted. "I was asking the council what they thought should be included in the response. They seem to think it is a non-threat to us, but I had to remind them that I no longer have the power of the one tails and the enemy does. Not only that, but we are allies with the villages concerned, and if they are attacked, we must rise to help anyway."
"That is a rather convincing point." She wrung her hands. "Do they have any idea when they might strike?"
He gave a half shrug. "Anywhere from a few months to a year, but the problem lies in that we don't know what to expect, and they have been preparing for far longer than we have." He looked over at her with worry written on his face. "I did not want to worry you until I was more sure of what was happening. You do not need the stress of war."
She laid a hand on her pregnant bump. "I know." She laid her head back on the coach. "It seems the world is really against me having an easy pregnancy." She grumbled.
"Birth planning?" Gaara wondered. "Do you not know already how it will come out?" He looked from the medic to his wife for clarification.
Hinata giggled. "Yes, but this is practicing breathing for birth, knowing where the baby should be born, having clothes packed for a stay at the hospital."
"Today, we are starting to learn the breathing and how you can help her." The medic explained.
"I help her breath?" Gaara looked more confused.
Hinata smiled, patting his leg comfortingly. "Just do as she says. It will make sense." She sat against Gaara, how the medic asked when he started asking questions.
"These classes are going to teach Hinata how she should breathe during birth and what to expect. It will teach you what you should be doing during the birth to support her." The medic explained as she went through the class. "Who is the second of kin if you are unavailable?" She asked.
"I will be available," Gaara answered promptly.
"Temari-chan and Matsuri-chan," Hinata answered quickly to correct him, feeling her husband frowned. "You can't guarantee you will be able to be there if there is a battle." She kept the word war to herself as it was top secret.
"You're not supposed to be thinking about that." He scolded.
"She's right to plan for something like that. You are the Kage, which means that there are higher responsibilities for you than being present for the birth. We recommend secondary kin for any partner, especially nin. Emergencies happen, and babies stop for no one when they are ready to come out." The medic corrected. Gaara nodded, accepting the answer only not to argue. "Alright, and we planned to have it in the medical center in case of emergency."
Hinata nodded.
"Have you packed a bag?" She asked.
"Isn't it early for that?" Hinata wondered.
"With your blood pressure and your husband's medical history, it is better to be safe in case of early contraction." The medic explained. "Our best hope is that you make it to full term or at least 35 weeks. The longer the term, the more likely it is that the child will be strong enough to survive birth."
Hinata could feel dread. This was all just preparing for the worst because they couldn't even hope for normal at this point.
Hinata felt it coming and kneeled before her vision tunneled. She tried to breathe evenly, but it was hard when she felt like she was about to be sick, and the world spun so quickly.
"Hinata-sama." Matsuri grabbed her holding her from falling completely forward.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." She assured her. "Just dizzy."
Matsuri's grip helped ground her spinning head, and it passed nearly as quickly as it came.
"Is that normal," Matsuri asked.
"Not quite, but it's becoming common." She should be expecting dizziness upon standing, but these sudden spells were worrying.
"Should I get Gaara?" She asked as she helped her up.
"No," Hinata said too quickly. "Don't bother him, I'm fine." She assured her. Matsuri didn't look as sure.
"You need to be taking on less stress, your blood pressure is too high, and your chakra is thinning." The medic told her flatly after checking her levels.
Gaara eyed her disapprovingly, and it hurt. She had handed much of her work to Matsuri and Temari, but there were some things they couldn't handle. Not without alerting the council to her missing signatures. She was down to working half the day, and she was not even six months pregnant. She should have expected this with her rising dizzy spells.
"Hinata-sama, I must stress that you need to lower your stress or you WILL lose this baby." The medic pushed.
Gaara took a few seconds. "Very well."
She cringed. He didn't need any more stress either.
"No," Gaara stated flatly in irritation. "Hinata is not available. You will have to deal with who is." He growled. He hadn't realized how many people prefer his wife until he had forced her out of her office. Matsuri had mentioned that people would seek her out. It was adding to her workload unintentionally. She was right.
She had come in early looking oddly pale and laid down on his couch. Sleeping in the middle of the day was not something she normally did, and he could safely assume it was her condition that was the cause.
"That's unacceptable. These matters cannot be tossed about. We sent the word we were coming last week! This shows a clear lack of Suna's care for trade." The man demanded.
Gaara felt his rage boil.
The door slammed opened, making even him jump. "I can take you in my office now, thank you." Hinata's face was flat with her silent irritation.
"Hinata." He growled.
She ignored him. "I'm sorry my earlier arrangement ran long. I didn't mean any insult." She told them as she let the group pass her.
"Hinata." He demanded again.
"I'll be with you in a moment." She closed the door behind them and then looked at him directly. "I'm sorry, but this group likes to be difficult."
"You shouldn't be working with traders. You are only meant to be doing paperwork that requires your signature." He demanded.
"I will have to make an exception." She sighed, rubbing her temples. He swallowed his reply.
She sighed, entering her office. Matsuri sat at Hinata's desk as she was doing most of her work. The younger woman looked past the group, confused but quickly moved to the side to let her sit down in her chair. "Matsuri-san, I need you to take notes. We will review our trade agreement before going any farther, and I will have you handing them from now on."
"This is ridiculous. Why are we being passed to this little girl." The man whined.
Hinata's eyes narrowed. "She is next in line to Kazekage. I would hope you could respect her, as you seem to not respect our current Kage."
The man turned white. To be honest, she had been too nice to this group, and she had taken their insults and whining in the past because it benefited the village. But now, they had already angered her husband and insulted the village, and she was running on hormonal rage at the moment. "We meant you no disrespect. You have been quite hospitable to us, it's what we have come to expect. We thought all Suna would have such a high standard."
"Suna is not usually as forgiving as I am." She stated, colder than she meant to. "Due to issues that have araised and my current health, my time is needed elsewhere. For the sake of everything getting its due attention, I have had to delegate work as of present. I apologize if this is an inconvenience, but you are not the only one affected, nor are you the only ones that have been disappointed. Now, I hope you will show the due respect to Matsuri-san until I can go back to my normal duties."
"Right." The man said, looking down, looking ashamed of his outrage. More at the fact he was flat out called out for it rather than he was ashamed he had had the fit.
"Now we will have an overview of our agreements so far, and I will leave." She was feeling incredibly dizzy now that her blood pressure had spiked with her temper.
She had only taken a few steps out of her office, and her head started to spin again. She clenched to the wall, willing herself to stay upright until she could at least close herself in a room. She made it to Gaara's door and twisted the nob just as she fell. She forced her weight to her side to avoid falling on her stomach.
Gaara was at her side, maybe even before she hit the ground. He picked her up and laid her on the couch. "I'm calling your medic." He growled.
She had nothing to say. She closed her eyes and willing the dizziness to stop.
"Your blood pressure spiking and bottoming out is becoming common?" The medic asked.
Gaara looked at his wife, interested in her answer. "Last couple of weeks, yes. I had it earlier today. I napped, and I got something to eat, hoping my sugar might just be low, and then I handled a situation that made me upset." She admitted. "I know dizziness and lightheadedness were things I should expect."
"Not this dizzy." The medic corrected, she sighed. "Hinata-sama, I am going to put you on light bed rest until this passes. You do not have to stay in bed all day, but no more work, no paperwork, nothing. I want you to write down every time your blood pressure feels off, and I'm going to give you some food to eat and some to avoid." The medic frowned.
"I will see to it that she obeys," Gaara stated firmly, looking his wife in the eye. He had never made her do anything she didn't want to, but he was not losing her to work.
She did as she was told, staying in the bedroom, the kitchen, or Gaara's office most of the day. She was bored, she was miserably upset and guilty all her work was being shoved to others. Honestly, it felt like she was more stressed without anything to busy her.
They were running out of excuses. It was a matter of time before the council demanded answers. Gaara was distant, both worried about her and trying not to add to it, and stressed himself with what he was sure he wasn't telling her.
A knock on the door broke her thought. She looked at the time. She wasn't expecting Gaara for another few hours. "Hinata?"
She got up slowly to avoid illness and opened the door. "Baki-san?"
"May I speak with you for a moment?" He asked with a frown that told her that what he had to talk about was not pleasant. She mirrored the uncomfortable look and nodded, letting him in.
"I'm going to start taking onee-chan to my birthing classes from now on." Hinata pressed her lips together, trying not to show the pain she felt on her face. She felt like she denied him his rights, he should have as an active father.
Gaara blinked, looking both confused and worried. "Why?"
She wouldn't lie. "Baki-san needs you here."
His expression darkened. "What did he tell you?"
"What you wouldn't." She admitted. "Don't blame him. He didn't know that you were keeping quiet." She added quickly. "He thought you were just stubborn."
"You are supposed to..." Gaara started.
"I know!" Hinata snapped, sitting in the chair across his desk. "But I am far more worried when I know nothing. I'm sitting in my tower, feeling the need to pull my hair out. The information I got from him was a relief." She hoped to pull the blame more to herself, making it seem like she sought Baki out rather than the other way around.
He sat back, staring at her, annoyed with her, she was sure.
She took a breath. "I agree with him."
His frown deepened.
She looked down. "As much as I want you there, it is more important you are there for the village than you are there for me. Matsuri-chan and Temari-chan can handle my appointments and preparation."
He stayed silent. She glanced up from her fingers. He was rubbing his head. She wished she hadn't caused him so much stress.
She pressed her lips together. "Let me worry about the baby. I'll let you worry about the war, but don't shut me out. It only makes me worry more."
He sighed. "Alright."