Author: Silver Star Dragon

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairings:

Main: Hinata/Gaara

Past: Hikaru/Hiashi, Mai/Mamoru

Secondary: Ino/Shino, Timoko/Genma

Rating: PG-13 (May go higher)

Timeline: Hinata is nearing her 19th birthday.

White Dove's Legacy

Gaara listened to Hinata recount the events from the day before. He had led Hinata out the way he had come in, that is thru the gardens. She had held his hand all the way; refusing it seemed to be out of contact with him. Gaara spent most of his time shifting thru the information she was providing with a quietly growing rage that he could only remember being this bad with Shukaku.

"Gaara, the Kuraku have been amazing. They've been so kind and gentle to me."

"Who are they to you though?" He tried to concentrate on what Hinata was saying to distract him from going after her father and beating the hell out of him.

"My mother was a ward of the Clan's Leader's mother. In a sense, Mai and my mother were sisters."

"Why didn't you go to them when the abuse first started?" Hinata met his sea foam green eyes.

"I don't know. It was almost like they were bound or something. Now that I think about it, I have always seen shadows that didn't have a person attached. According to what I can figure out, their bloodline trait has something to do with the dark."

"Hinata, I want you to be safe. I want you to be happy, but I can't help but think that there is something that you're not telling me and it's making you unhappy. Hinata please."

"It's nothing Gaara... you're the Kazekage. I don't want to burden you-" Gaara grabbed her tightly and held her.

"Never call yourself a burden. You can't be one. And I don't care what anyone says, I have a right to care for you."

"Gaara..." Hinata didn't know what to say.

"Tell me Hinata. Tell me what you're hiding." Hinata took a deep breath. Gaara feared the worst.

"There have been several attempts made against my life. I caught several of them, and I was hurt by a lot of them. Neji and my father have caught a few; Hanabi always told me that I never caught them because I was too weak. I was afraid to eat, to drink, to even sleep. When I trained against another Hyuga other than Neji, it seemed like they were trying very hard to kill me. And when Neji went on a mission..."

"You had no one. Not even... me." He felt powerless, like he did when he had first lost Shukaku. Hinata shook her head, sending her long wavy purple hair flying in the wind.

"Not true. You see, you were here in town most of the times that Neji was on a mission. And when you weren't, I ate with Sakura and Ino. Trained with Shino and Kiba. When I needed rest, I knew that I could find places to just rest my head." Hinata pulled out of his embrace and smiled. "We don't have much time before we go to eat supper. Let's just enjoy it." She stopped by a flower, a purple lily and sniffed it. Gaara watched her and smiled. He would find a way to deal with whatever threatened his beloved Hinata. But for now he would enjoy his time with the only woman of his dreams.

Mai smiled as she entered her office. Perched in various locations around her office were ANBU. Actually, 2 wolves, a raven, tiger, crane, and fox. Everyone was showing complete chakra control by being attached to the ceiling and walls.

"So, shall Gaara be joining us for dinner tonight?" Mizuki, the Crane asked. She was sitting on the wall, her head turned as if to look up.

"Yes he will be. Dinner is going to be formal." A collective groan.

"What does Gaara know now?" Yuzuki the Raven asked from the ceiling.

"More I bet than Neji told him or even knew him." Tsukiko, the second Wolf Captain replied from another wall.

"Mother, I have some news for you." Timoko, First Wolf of the ANBU said floating cross-legged on a cloud of darkness. Mai noted that Timoko's arms were starting to decay a bit around the gloves.

"What is it Timoko?"

"I found some records in the ANBU archives that suggest that the Sadaime opened an investigation into Hikaru's death." If Timoko didn't have their attention before, she did now.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It was hidden from you it appears. It was an open case when Itachi Uchiha became an ANBU. He took the case as his first assignment. Records state that he might have found something out. Before he could act on it or tell anyone the case was closed."

"Let me guess, by the Hyuga." Timoko nodded.

"It seems the Council of Elders leaned very hard on the Sadaime. In Itachi's handwriting I found Yuuma's name more than once or twice. Itachi knows something. He may know who killed her." Mai sat down behind her desk with her brows knitted together. Itachi Uchiha was the finest Konoha ninja, still was if you didn't count that he was a missing-nin and s-ranked killer. That boy would have made a great Hokage. Damn his father. Itachi held the secret to her sister's murder. But he was a member of the Akatsuki Organization. To speak to him would label the person who did it a traitor to Konoha. Or just to her Hokage. Unless...

"I will see that we found out what Itachi knows." Mai said with a soft hint of finality in her voice. Timoko and the other girls nodded their heads.

"What of Hisa and her bitch daughter Hanabi?" Hazuki the Fox asked from the wall.

"You really shouldn't call Hanabi a bitch." Mai said frowning. "We're supposed to be better than them."

"I understand but the bitch was trying to hurt Hinata."

"No one touches them unless they come to the Compound. Hinata is to never be left alone with them. EVER." Mai looked around the room at her daughters. "As for Hinata..."

"What of Hinata, mother?" Tukiyo the Tiger asked.

"Well for starters we need to start training her in our family's fighting styles. She may not be cursed, but it's her right to learn. I want all of you to work with her. Fighting styles, weapons, medicines, jutsu, traps/assassinations, and spying techniques. Above all, all of you are to help her with her self-esteem. Her father may have been my teammate, but he has beaten that girl so hard that she will have a hard time recovering."

"I'll take fighting." Timoko said getting off her cloud and making it vanish.

"Weapons are mine." Yuzuki said fingering one of her blades.

"I'll take medicines." Tukiyo volunteered.

"Traps and assassinations are my specialty." Tsukiko said with a thoughtful look.

"I'll train her on jutsu." Mizuki said removing her mask.

"I'll teach her to spy." Hazuki said bouncing up and down from her seat on the wall.

"I will teach her to bring statues to life." Mai said pulling out a scroll that she had been working on earlier that morning. "Now why don't you go clean yourselves up for dinner?" Mai shooed all of her daughters out of her office. Timoko looked over her shoulder at her mother, a searching look in her eyes before turning towards her room.

Mai waited for her daughters to be well on their way to their rooms before going to a picture of the current Kuraku family and moving the picture. Hidden behind it was a moving panel. Using some of her dark chakra she removed the genjutsu over the door and opened it. Though she had retired from the ANBU, nearly retired from being a ninja altogether, she retained her title and her mask. No one else would want it. The mask might be cursed or something likes that.

It was the mask of the ANBU snake. The mask that had belonged to Orochimaru himself. She would be the last snake of Konoha, though Anko and Sasuke if he ever came back could give her a run for the money on that title. And really it was a shame. Orochimaru had actually been considered for the position of Hokage when the Sadaime had decided to retire. Good thing they had decided against him. A shame too, he was related distinctly to the Kuraku thru a contract. Of course had wanted the power that was theirs and had tried to kill her to get it. Not only had he lost the mask and her powers, but she had also made sure that he could never reproduce should he have ever wanted to.

At times she had kept tabs on him. Sometimes taking out several of his greatest ninja in very gory fashions just to prove to him that she had not forgotten anything. Then again, Hazuki had melded several of his ninja to trees so that at night around the Sound Village you could hear their screams of pain. You couldn't torture anyone better than making them apart of a tree, a transmutation.

"But that is the past." She laid her mask on the desk. "Finding Itachi and getting everything out of him is my future."

Dinner was an enjoyable event for Gaara. Mai and her daughters prove to have wit and humor, making Hinata laugh. If Hinata was laughing then Gaara was happy. They would ask him questions about Suna, what did he have to trade, how were the medicines. Since Hinata was listening in, Gaara told them what they wanted to know. They didn't want to know anything personal or forbidden; they wanted to know general stuff. Then Mai turned to Hinata.

"Hinata, we would like to train you in our jutsu and fighting styles. I know your mother's Dove jutsu and I would like to train you in them." Mai took a bite of her eel.

"Why is mother called the White Dove?" Hinata asked. Timoko blinked.

"Your father never told you?" Hinata shook her head. Timoko looked at Mai who nodded to her. "Hikaru's father was Moriko's younger brother. In our Clan, only females can lead. It is rare, though not unheard of that a male is born. Ryu married a woman from a civilian Clan. When Hikaru was born it was said that everyone around her was at peace. Indeed when she was on a genin team the ninja that fought against her team were lured in by the waves of peacefulness that she gave off. Because of our bloodline trait, we are considered... uh what a good word to put it, outcasts is. Trust me on this. So Hikaru went to the Councils for us. Anyway, Hikaru had a contract with a special type of dove. A summon. Never seen it, only heard of it. The last time that it was summoned was during the attack of the Nine-tailed Fox."

"You call her the White Dove for those reasons?" Hinata asked. She wished that her father had spoken more of her mother.

"Among other things." Mai said. "Your mother was very gentle and kind." Her eyes glazed for a moment. "Gaara-sama, did you tell your sister you were staying for dinner? She's trying to get thru the statue guardians."

"I didn't tell her, I figured that she'd have thought about that herself." Gaara said standing. Before he could excuse himself Temari came rushing into the room, her fan open.

"Gaara get away from these monsters!" Seven Kuraku females stood up, their face dark at Temari's choice of words. Hinata stood as well.

"Temari you speak of my kinswomen." Hinata snapped. She blinked in surprise as she had never snapped before.

"What is the meaning of this Temari?" Gaara asked wondering how such a good evening could turn bad so quickly.

"I have been speaking to the other Clans; this Clan is a group of monsters. Their bloodline trait makes them into skeletons. Rotting skeletons. That's why no one wants to deal with them. Not even Shukaku is as destructive as them."

"I am sorry, I never thought that I would ever say this," Hazuki said, "I think that it would be best if you were to leave Temari-san. You know nothing of our Clan and you are very insulting."

"I'm not leaving without my brother!" Gaara's sand spiked around on the walls.

"TEMARI! Leave." Gaara ordered. "Temari, I am safe here. These women guard my beloved. These women are not monsters. Temari," He stopped her from saying anymore. "Go away." She left without saying another word, the guards of the Kuraku Clan following her. After Temari left Gaara turned to the women.

"I am sorry." He looked Mai in the eye so that she knew he was sincere.

"It is nothing we have not heard before." Mai said quietly. "We should retire for the night. Good night."

Gaara and Hinata entered her set of rooms side by side. Hinata suddenly got a moment of confusion. Where was Gaara to sleep? What was he to sleep in? What was she to sleep in since she didn't pull her clothes out this morning? She looked at him, blushing.

"I um, I don't know where any other rooms are in this part of the Compound. So I don't know where-"

"Don't worry. I have found that Mai seems to think ahead all the time. I'm sure she's thought of something and I don't want to leave you." If were any more possible, Hinata's blush became redder. The continued into the bedroom when they noticed that sitting on bed were 2 sets of clothes. Hinata picked up one set of clothes. It was a silver yukata lined with black lace. The obi was black silk. Gaara's clothes were actually a pair of black silk pants that were obliviously from Suna.

"It appears that I was right." Gaara said noticing that the couch was set up to be a bed. He then saw that a door which was hidden in the wall was now opened. Sending out a sand trail, he found that it was a bathroom and the tub was drawn with warm water. "Hinata, there is a tub in there. Why don't you go take a bath?" Somehow, Gaara was able to keep from blushing. The thought of Hinata naked... no must not think anything like that. Hinata's been thru more in these past 2 days then most people suffer in their whole lives.

"Bu-ut you are the guest, Gaara. I shouldn't-"

"Don't worry about me. I want you to enjoy yourself. Relax." I promise not to peek. Yeah, right. Gaara could still feel some of Shukaku's emotions, and he knew that he had to keep himself under control.

Hinata nodded and picked up her clothes going in to the room. She could see a screen of silk that was meant to be pulled as so to hide the tub from prying eyes and so used it so as to spare Gaara from torture if he was interested. My beloved. He called her. She slid off the kimono marveling at how it moved off her shoulders, before getting into the tub that she found was scented in lavender and rose. She wanted to soak and hope that Gaara would not mind.

Gaara wondered if he had done something wrong. He was Kazekage of Suna. He could not afford to get involved with a Konoha Kunoichi unless it was an alliance. The Hyuga were not going to go into an alliance with him. He was not that stupid. Maybe the Kuraku Clan would be willing. Shukaku was supposed to be gone. And yet, sound advice that he would be more than willing to check out. He changed quickly into the clothes that he could sense Mai had left out for him and sat down on the couch, closing his eyes.

He sensed Hinata coming out into the bedroom and made room for her settle against him. She smiled and curled up next to him, using his well muscled shoulder as a pillow. Curling his arms around her, he felt content.

Sometime during the night he found that he had fallen asleep right along with Hinata. The blanket was pulled around the both of them, by someone else.

Author Note: Yeah, even I kinda think its a little rushed. I'm no good when it comes to relationships, since I can't keep one myself. Please be easy on the relationship part. I have no real love for Temari. I don't like Tsunade either. Why would you give the position as leader of your village to a drunk? I've never figured that out.