Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18 and dianalovely1995 for your reviews! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story. And also thanks to those who have added Labyrinth to their follows and favorites - I get so encouraged every time I see a new alert in my in-box!

Author's Note: Ah, so many exciting things happening! In this chapter, you really get to dive into some of the more personal, emotional conflicts of the story, as well as finally find out why Jiraiya and Tsunade reacted the way they did to Naruto's doodles a few chapters ago! Thank you so much for reading, and your patience with my sporadic updates, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

*~Chapter XXIV~*

~Restless~

When Hinata entered one of her home's smaller formal receiving rooms, Lord Gaara bowed and said, "Thank you for seeing me, Lady Hinata." As Tenten quietly slid the shouji closed behind her, his eyes flicked in that direction. His oddly hairless brows drew together slightly. "Forgive me if I speak out of turn - but your bodyguard accompanies you even inside your own home?"

"Tenten is c-companion and chaperone as much as b-bodyguard," Hinata said serenely. "My father very m-much favors the old ways of d-doing things." She indicated the cushions placed on the tatami to either side of a low table. "Shall we sit and have t-tea?"

Gaara shook his red head at her offer. "Thank you, milady, but I cannot linger. I wanted to take my leave of you since duty calls me back to Suna today. I am sure you understand."

She nodded an acknowledgement. "It is fortunate you were able to c-come to Konoha for the wedding. I hope you have a s-safe trip home, Lord Gaara."

"Thank you." He paused and cleared his throat. His shadow-ringed green eyes caught and held hers, causing her heart to beat slightly faster; but whether in anticipation or dread she was unable to discern. "If I were free to pursue my own desires," he went on in his low, raspy voice, "I would choose to stay in Konoha longer to further our acquaintance. I apologize if this seems abrupt, but Lord Hiashi has broached to me the subject of arranging a marriage between us. You - are aware of this?"

Hinata's heart stuttered in her chest, although years of strict training enabled her to keep her from displaying any outward reaction. Dipping her head gracefully and glancing downward, she murmured in a voice barely above a whisper, "Y-yes."

If Gaara harbored any curiosity as to why the lord of Konoha wanted to marry his heir to the lord of Suna, he at least gave no sign of it. Instead he continued in that same soft voice, "Please excuse me for inquiring, but the two times I saw you in company with Lord Sasuke, he seemed quite - possessive - of you. Your father assured me you have not formed a prior attachment to him, but I wanted to ask you directly. Do you and he have an agreement?"

Hinata's pride prickled at the thought of her father giving such assurances on her behalf. This, this, was the moment when she should gently but firmly inform Lord Gaara that Hiashi was very much in error; that she and Sasuke had every intention of wedding each other. Instead she found her tongue trying to glue itself to the roof of her mouth. Somehow she managed to force out, "S-Sasuke and I are c-currently exploring the p-possibility of an alliance b-between our two clans. N-nothing is definite."

Sasuke would have given her that blinding smile and maybe even brushed a kiss across her knuckles at her reply. Gaara stepped up to the very edge of her personal space and took both of her hands in his, a smoldering warmth kindling in his eyes. His voice sounded even hoarser than usual as he said, "Much as I regret the necessity of a courtship conducted at a distance, may I ask you to give equal consideration to my suit?" His thumbs brushed in a featherlight touch across the backs of her hands. "For I must confess the thought of having you as my wife pleases me very much. Do I have your permission to correspond with you, Hinata?"

Feeling her cheeks heat with a blush and despising herself as the coward she'd discovered herself to be, she said faintly, "Y-yes."

With the unexpectedly sweet, shy smile that totally transformed his face and inspired a strange tenderness in Hinata, Gaara briefly tightened his hold on her hands. "Thank you, milady. And the next time we meet face to face, I sincerely hope you will truly be my lady."

"Perhaps, milord," she whispered in reply. "We shall s-see."

When she rejoined Tenten after Lord Gaara said his farewell and departed, Hinata felt oddly diffident in her bodyguard's company. She and Gaara both possessed naturally soft voices; how much, if any, of their conversation had the older woman heard? Fearing to see disappointment, or worse yet scorn, in her friend's brown eyes, she maintained a steadfast silence all the way back to her suite. Once there she immediately took up her samisen and, as so many times before in her life when she had no other outlet for the emotions threatening to overwhelm her, sought to lose herself in the solace of music. Her fingers restlessly wielded the ivory bachi over the triple strings as she played a bit of this song and a snatch of that, unable to settle on any one melody, until a maid came to announce that Lord Sasuke waited for her in the courtyard in front of the house.

Hinata instantly laid her instrument aside with a clatter. "Yumiko! You l-left him st-standing outside the house?" she demanded, horrified at the discourtesy. She swiftly got to her feet, Tenten instantly mirroring her movement.

"At his own request, milady," the maid hastily repeated with another bow. "You will understand why when you join him." She stepped to one side to allow Hinata to hurry past her.

Biting her lips, Hinata hurried along the silent hallways, scarcely aware of Tenten following a couple of steps behind her. Even given the active dislike between their fathers, she felt deeply distressed that Sasuke evidently did not consider himself welcome enough to cross the threshold of the Hyuuga manor house. Or, the thought struck her, even worse, had he been denied entry? Intent on righting the wrong, she exited at speed onto the verandah, not thinking to change from her house shoes. Her gaze flew ahead to where he stood very much at his ease holding the reins of his horse, Taka-

-As well as the reins of a somewhat smaller horse of so light a grey as to be nearly white in color, especially when viewed next to Sasuke's big black.

Her mind spinning from the surprise of finding the situation to be so different from her expectations, Hinata slid to an unsteady halt just short of the edge of the top step, wobbling as one ankle threatened to turn under her. Dropping both sets of reins, Sasuke sprang up the steps towards her as Tenten's strong hands caught hold of her shoulders from behind. Blushing deeply she started to stammer an apology for her clumsiness, while trying to get a mental grip.

However Sasuke, in what had seemingly become his custom, drew one of her hands into the crook of his arm as he shook his head at her. "It was my fault for surprising you like this," he said while gently urging her down the steps. "But now the wedding's over and life will hopefully be getting back to normal, I just couldn't wait for you to meet Hato. Isn't she a beauty? She's got absolutely fantastic bloodlines. And I promise you'll find her to be every bit as gentle as the bird she's named for, while still having a lot of heart and speed. Of course," a hint of anxiety entered his voice, "if you decide she doesn't suit you, Shikamaru said we can take her back to the Nara and find a mount who does."

They came to a halt in front of the animals. Hinata, feeling more than a little breathless and dizzy from being swept along on the wind of Sasuke's enthusiasm, blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "L-Lord Sasuke, you've b-bought me a horse?" At that moment the silvery grey mare turned her head to regard her from one great dark eye: disdainfully, she thought. She dropped her gaze to the ground, feeling like her face was on the verge of catching on fire as guilt compounded her embarrassment. Without consciously willing it, her left hand withdrew itself from his arm so her fingertips could tap together at a desperate pace.

Sasuke's hands, warm and so much larger than her own, closed gently over hers, stilling them. "Hinata," he said soothingly, "it's okay. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. I just want you to have a horse that's worthy of you. The gelding you rode to the picnic was adequate, but, um - pedestrian. Nothing at all like what a lovely, elegant, highborn lady such as yourself should be riding." A teasing note entered his voice. "I'm not expecting you to fall into my arms and thank me with kisses. Although I wouldn't mind if you did."

Hinata knew with absolute certainty every red corpuscle in her body now resided in her face. She cast about desperately for something to say, mortifyingly tongue-tied. What an ungrateful boor he must think I am! she thought.

Sasuke's hands tightened slightly on hers. "I'm sorry, Hinata," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you like this. I had thought we might go for a ride, but perhaps we should save that for another day."

The young man's quiet good manners steadied Hinata, allowing her to draw, if somewhat belatedly, on her own training and upbringing. "Actually I th-think a ride would be a g-good idea," she said, thinking that even though horseback riding did not count as one of her favorite pastimes, it was the least she could do to make up for her earlier ungraciousness. "Hato is the m-most beautiful horse I've ever seen - no offense, Taka - and a g-gift as extravagant as it is thoughtful. But before you officially g-give her to me or I officially accept her, I n-need to talk to you." Her eyes shifted of their own accord to the Tower looming over them from across the expansive courtyard; more specifically, to the windows of her father's office, where a figure in a dark grey over-robe stood watching them. She suppressed an urge to shiver. "But n-not here. If you don't m-mind waiting while I change-?"

Sasuke's face lit with the smile that made her feel as though a second sun shone on her. "Of course I don't mind waiting," he said warmly. "It'll allow time for a horse to be saddled for Tenten, as well."

No more than fifteen minutes later, they rode past the Tower and out the compound's main gate. Hinata refused to look up to see if her father still watched, instead listening to Sasuke tell her of a small park nearby with enough open space to allow for a pleasant ride. By the time they got there, Hinata found herself marveling at how amazingly more comfortable she felt than the last time she'd sat a horse.

"I almost feel as th-though I'm floating," she said, wistfully wishing there were no other purpose to their outing than this. Although the day was quite warm, the humidity was not high, the start of Konoha's dry season being close at hand. It would be pleasant to amble along companionably, doing nothing more than enjoying the day and Sasuke's company. But after far too short a time, when Sasuke suggested they dismount and leave the horses with Tenten while they took a stroll around the perimeter of the large lily pond at the park's center, she knew she had to speak before she lost her resolve entirely. Unconsciously she drew in a deep breath and released it as a sigh.

Instantly Sasuke flexed his arm just enough to draw her hand closer to his side. "What's troubling you so deeply, Hinata?" he asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm afraid we have to t-talk about it," she replied. She let her steps slow to a halt next to a weeping willow tree, its yellowing leaves gently dropping down a few at a time amongst the lily pads and blooms. Unable to look at him, she took in another breath, this one shakier than the last as her stomach roiled nervously. She said in a rush, "L-Lord Gaara came by to s-see me on his way out of Konoha."

The muscles of his arm tensed under her fingers; but he managed to keep his voice calm, though she sensed the effort it cost him. "I see." He inhaled audibly. "And it wasn't just for a polite leave-taking, was it? Even after seeing us together and knowing you are the future leader of Konoha, did he have the nerve to ask to court you?"

"He d-did," Hinata said, dreading what she had to say next. "W-with my f-father's bl-blessing."

That brought Sasuke whipping around to face her, shocking radiating from him in tangible waves. "With-! But that's impossible! That would take you, his heir, away from Konoha!" Anger began to work its way into his tone. "Gaara must've deliberately given you a false impression, trying to give himself an advantage-"

"N-no." Hinata all but whispered the denial, the old familiar shame crushing down on her. Her head drooped under his incredulous stare. "F-Father proposed the m-match to Lord Gaara. He thinks me t-too weak to f-follow him as the next l-leader of Konoha. As well as clearing the way for m-my sister to b-become the heiress he desires, such a m-marriage would g-give the Hyuuga a tie with the Sabaku to offset the Uchiha's." She refrained from adding that she suspected Hiashi of having already formulated a plan to send her to Suna as Gaara's wife long before Itachi and Temari's betrothal.

The breeze strengthened momentarily, swirling willow leaves through the air around them. As it died away, Sasuke said very softly, "That might be true. But could you be happy with such an arrangement, Hinata?"

His question verged on dangerous ground. An image of Sasuke clawed, bitten, and bleeding in her defense flashed through her mind. Hinata used it to fortify her shaky resolve, even though it weakened the hold she'd been keeping on her emotions. Without meeting his eyes, she whispered, "I could be - content - if it k-kept Konoha s-safe. And you."

There was a pause. "Is that why you would allow Gaara court you?" Sasuke demanded then in a tone of disbelief. "The dog attack? You would actually sacrifice your birthright and future because you think it was aimed at me?"

Anger as unexpected as it was hot flared through Hinata. "Y-yes! And b-because it proved how useless I am!" Without even realizing she'd done so, she raised one hand and thumped him on the chest with her fist. "I had shuriken in m-my p-pouch that d-day, b-but I d-didn't even th-think to use them. All I c-could d-do was freeze as that b-beast mauled you - and scream. Uselessly. And f-faint - uselessly." She drew her fist back again, tears from her overflowing eyes slipping down her cheeks and dripping off her chin.

Sasuke caught her wrist in a gentle hold before the blow could fall. "Far from uselessly," he said, his voice earnest. "Shuriken wounds are too shallow to be fatal unless they happen to hit a major vein or artery; and your scream saved my life by distracting that wild dog's attention at just the right moment." His other hand came up to cradle her jaw, his thumb nudging her chin upward until she met his eyes. "Hinata, please believe me: You are brave. You're also kind, and gentle, and beautiful, and you will be a fantastic leader for Konoha." He leaned toward her, his head tipping slightly to one side as he added huskily, "And I am falling in love with you."

Is he going to kiss me? Just as the panicky thought took shape in Hinata's mind, her eyelids slid closed without her telling them to do so. An instant later his lips, incredibly soft and warm and smooth, ghosted across hers in a touch as soft as a whisper and light as a breath. A quivering feeling began somewhere deep inside her, causing her to tighten her core muscles in an effort to control it. At the same moment, an unwelcome realization went through her like a whirlwind:

I'm falling in love with him, too.

And I mustn't.

As she desperately tried to curb her tumultuous feelings and force herself back into her defensive detachment, she felt his hands swipe tenderly across her cheeks, drying them. Just as they'd closed without her permission, her eyes now reopened as Sasuke drew back again, his dark gaze catching and holding hers.

"I'm not stepping aside quietly," he told her, an intense promise gleaming in his midnight eyes. "You are worth fighting for, Hyuuga Hinata, and I intend to fight to win you for myself. You belong in Konoha - with me."

Fortunately Sasuke didn't appear to expect any matching declaration from her - which was a good thing considering she was totally tongue-tied again. He nestled her hand in his arm once more as they resumed their interrupted stroll.

"No matter what, Hato is yours, Hinata," Sasuke told her just before bidding her and Tenten farewell at the compound's massive gates. "I really believe she was foaled to be your horse." Reaching to take one of her hands in his, he bowed low to her from his saddle. "I look forward to the next time I see you, my lady."

The pain in her heart nearly overwhelmed her, but pure force of will and knowing herself to be under the witness of the guards enabled Hinata to hold it at bay while she bade him a soft, noncommittal farewell. But the memories of his lips brushing hers, of the feel of his hands smoothing gently across her face burned along her nerve endings with a fire she despaired of quenching.

Openly admiring grooms came up to lead Hato, as well as Tenten's mount, away. Hinata scarcely noticed. She concentrated on keeping her feet moving, carrying her closer and closer to the haven of her suite. On reaching its sanctuary, she headed mechanically for her bedroom, intending to curl up on her bed. But her legs gave way halfway across the sitting room. She collapsed clumsily onto a cushion next to the low table. Propping one elbow on its gleaming surface, she let her head droop onto her hand, feeling as though the shades of Sasuke and Gaara hovered one behind each shoulder, accusing stares boring into the back of her head.

Why? she thought, the beginnings of a sob swelling up from her tight chest. Why did this have to happen, when I'd made my mind up to what I had to do. It had all seemed so clear when she'd still been cocooned in her state of emotional detachment. But her defenses, the numbness she'd used as a shield, were irrevocably shattered. She would never be able to use it to insulate herself from her guilt, and shame, and pain again.

"Milady? Lady Hinata?" Tenten's hushed, worried voice interrupted her preoccupation. "Did I do wrongly by allowing Lord Sasuke to take you off with him? Should I have - intervened?"

Hinata's watery gaze fixed hazily on her bodyguard's troubled face. "N-no," she said on a long sigh. I just had my first kiss. And it was from Sasuke. My heart should be flying higher than the clouds right now. But instead- Without realizing it, she pressed one hand over her aching heart. "It's all s-such a m-mess." She made a weak attempt at humor. "D-do you think I have any potential as a b-bodyguard for hire, Tenten? B-because if I do, maybe I should j-just grab you and Neji and the three of us c-could run away from Konoha."

Tenten's forehead puckered and she looked uncertain of how to respond. "As far as sheer talent, the potential is there, but it's not an - easy - lifestyle," she finally said. "And besides," a look of wistful sadness flitted through her brown eyes, "we'd never get Neji past the compound gates."

Toying with the idea, pretending if even for a moment that she could ever do such a thing, Hinata responded, "Oh, we wouldn't go anywhere near the gates to escape the compound." And when her friend looked quizzical, "We'd go the same way I got out the day we met in the village. We'd use the secret tunnel under the cliff."

Kurenai is out of the office for the rest of the day, and Konohamaru is in school. This is the best chance I've had so far, so I'd better take it.

Taking a deep but surreptitious breath Naruto picked up his notebook and stood. He crossed the small space to his boss's desk, turned one of the chairs in front of it around backward, and straddled it. Pretending to a casualness and confidence he was far from feeling, he said, "Asuma, you got a couple of minutes? I need to talk to you."

"Huh? Oh, sure, Naruto." The editor of the Daily turned away from his workstation in sections, beginning with his torso and ending with his head. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm hoping you can help me figure something out." Opening his notebook, he made a show of riffling through its pages. "I was trying to get some thoughts straight for a piece a few nights ago-" no need to say how many! - "mostly just doodling, though. Could you look it over and maybe give me a few pointers?" He slid it across the top of the desk.

Looking slightly puzzled at the condition of the top page, Asuma absently smoothed it with one large hand. A pucker formed between his eyebrows as he scanned it. "Wait a minute, I recognize this. This is the lead to the story you wrote about the Uchiha portrait unveiling. So why are you showing it to me n-"

The tendons on the back of Asuma's flattened hand sprang out sharp and defined, his fingers going mottled red and white. He suddenly shot up out of his chair, sending it crashing into the wall behind him, the muscles of his forearm bunching as he pushed down hard on the notebook, almost as though trying to smash it down into the wood. His lips drew back from his teeth in a harsh grimace. Wordlessly glaring at the younger man, he shoved it violently back at Naruto, who barely managed to catch it.

"Yeah," Naruto said, working hard to appear unperturbed even though his hands trembled, "that was pretty much the reaction I expected."

It took a couple of attempts before Asuma rasped out, "I don't know what you think you're about, Naruto, but whatever it is, I'm telling you now to drop it."

Naruto stiffened his spine even though the part of him accustomed to taking orders from his boss wanted to duck its head and scuttle away. "Not gonna happen, Asuma. Something on that page made my grandpa go ballistic when he saw it, and my grandma bawl. With the way you reacted right now, it's got to be something to do with my parents' murder. So give already. What is it?"

The big man's fists clenched on top of the desk. "I said drop it, kid," he growled. "Trust me: You don't want to know."

Naruto's temper flared. His muscles tautened, ready to launch him to his feet so he could slap the notebook back onto the desktop in front of the editor, a yelled demand already building in his throat. His blazing blue eyes locked onto Asuma's challengingly - only to read a deep and abiding grief in those brown orbs instead of the anger he expected. All the heat abruptly went out of his urge to fight as his shoulders sagged.

"Yeah, if I were still a kid, you'd probably be right about that," he said in a low voice. "But I'm not a kid anymore. I'm sorry to dredge all this up for you, Asuma, but I need to know more about my parents' deaths. I can't ask Grandma or Grandpa, not after seeing how whatever it is that's on that page affected them. And no way I'd ever even think about asking Kurenai, especially not with the baby coming. So that just leaves you, boss." He quietly laid his open notebook on the desk again. "Please, tell me: What on that page set you all off? And why?"

Asuma stared broodingly back at him for so long a time, Naruto began to fear his appeal had had no effect whatsoever. But then, with a heavy sigh, the older man groped behind him for his chair; pulled it into place and sank into it. "What I wouldn't give for a cigarette," he muttered, rubbing one hand over his face. "Gods, Naruto - when did you get to be so grown up? So, okay. As for what's on the page," he extended one thick finger to hover in the air over the triangle and circle combination, "it's that symbol that triggers such bad memories. As for why," he took a ring of keys from one of his pockets; sorted through them before selecting one of them. Bending sideways he inserted it into the lock of a lower drawer of his desk. When he straightened again, he held a thin manila folder. More than a minute ticked by as a range of emotions played across his craggy face. Then, with a heavy sigh, he placed it on top of the notebook and sat back again.

"That's a copy of the official police file on your parents' deaths," he said. "The ancestors know there's precious little in it. Don't let your grandparents know I gave it to you, okay? And believe me on this," his voice went even bleaker, "you'll want to be alone when you read it." He jerked his head toward the door. "Go ahead, take it, and get on out of here. I'll see you tomorrow." He turned decisively back to his laptop.

Standing, Naruto reached to pick up the notebook and file, his gaze on his mentor's profile. Surely it was just a trick of the light - but were those tears he saw in the older man's eyes? Regretting the pain he'd caused, he murmured very low, "Thanks, Asuma," before turning and leaving the office.

Once out on the street, he paused. The slim folder felt as heavy as a brick and as hot as a live coal in his hand. Keeping in mind Asuma's final admonition, his first impulse was to scurry home; but he quickly rejected it. His grandpa was almost certain to be home, and the old man was as persistent and nosy as he was pervy. He'd want to know all the details of exactly why his grandson had come home in the middle of the day. So where, then?

The answer came to him a heartbeat later: Akimichi's. He'd probably need to share at least some of the file's contents with the others of the Council of Youngers. He might as well go to their unofficial headquarters to read it.

". . .Believe me . . . you'll want to be alone. . ." Asuma's voice whispered again at the back of his mind.

-So he'd ask Chouji for a private booth. At least he was one hundred percent sure of getting it.

Nearly half an hour later, having reached the restaurant and placed his order, Naruto laid the folder on the table in front of him. He stared down at it, feelings of unease and dread now dominating the sense of determination he'd had earlier. A powerful wish for continued ignorance suddenly washed through him. Rejecting it as cowardly, he slowly inhaled a long breath; reached out with shaking hands; opened it. A series of photographs were on the left, printed pages to the right. His eyes scanned across them. He gasped, his gorge thrusting its way up into his throat. Somehow he managed to slap the folder shut with one hand as he clapped the other one across his mouth.

He was still sitting there like that, trembling violently, when Chouji brought his food to him.

"Naruto!" The blond reporter barely noticed when the stocky youth, letting the curtain fall behind him, set his tray down with a rattling of china and bent over him. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

Gods, gods, I should've listened to Asuma! How am I ever gonna get these images out of my head? Looking up into Chouji's shocked round eyes, Naruto gulped convulsively once, then again. "Here," he whispered hoarsely through his fingers and fiercely shoved the folder against his friend's chest. "Get this to Shikamaru and Shino and the others. They need to know. That symbol - the one from the cave -" He shuddered. "Chouji, it was cut into my parents' bodies! While they were still-"

His fragile self-control breaking, Naruto put his face down into his muffling arms on the tabletop and wept.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: So many exciting things happening! Poor Hinata - I feel like such a jerk putting her through all this... And Naruto! I'm so happy I finally got to reveal why Jiraiya and Tsunade freaked out the way they did at Naruto's doodles a few chapters ago. Poor guy, though... Thank you so much for reading, your patience with my sporadic updates, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and to see you again for the next update!