Hindsight 20/20
Chapter 3: 20/200
Blind Part 2
He didn't speak to her much, and so at first she wondered if she'd done something to aggravate him. She knew Gaara was a quiet person, but she also knew that he was inclined to speak up if there was something that pressed for him to answer. She kept quiet, speaking with Temari most of all, and that was only because Shikamaru wasn't a talker.
Not on official missions, when Shikamaru had to keep guard. His mind was that of a tactician, and it would linger over every small detail, and every tiny clue. Konoha girls usually found that trait kind of cute, but not during long travels. In fact, it was often worrisome for anyone outside of his usual team.
"Don't you think you should relax a little, Shikamaru?" Hinata laughed on the fourth afternoon, when Temari had finally grown annoyed that he was so uptight. "Who would try to abduct me now?"
"Death would come swiftly to anyone who might try." Gaara said loud enough for the group to hear, but quietly enough that Hinata was sure she had imagined it.
"I'd rather you not, actually." Temari said, solidifying that Gaara had said he'd kill a person if provoked. "It's such a pain in the ass to clean up. When you do something like that, it's always bloody."
"Oh come on." Hinata tried to force a smile. "He's just joking, right?" She ran ahead a little, catching pace with her betrothed. "Gaara, you wouldn't really kill anyone in cold blood, now would you?"
"Without hesitation." He growled.
"Isn't that...well..." Hinata looked down to the ground. "Isn't that just a little morbid?"
"Well, we are ninja after all. Oh, but you know, that's just Gaara for you." Temari said nervously, feeling the tension in the air grow thick. "It's not very likely anyway, Hinata. People should know better than to provoke any of the village leaders." She ribbed Shikamaru in the side, knocking the air out of his lungs. "Right Shikamaru?"
He rubbed his side with a grimace. "There is a ninety percent chance of success that you'll arrive in Sunagakure safely." Shikamaru explained, lighting up something to smoke. "That ten percent can be reduced by vigilance to a mere five percent. It's not what I feel like doing, but this is what I'm being paid to do." Temari ribbed him again, and he grit his teeth. "Hey, I said it wasn't likely, okay?"
"Shithead." Temari hissed at him, from between her teeth. "I'm trying to lighten up the mood."
Hinata could only shake her head at their antics. "I think it'll be okay. I'm paying attention too, and I can see even farther ahead." There was nothing to disturb the peace. All her eyes could see in the distance was the small trading hub that connected a few crossroads. There, merchants and their hired hands doled out goods to people who couldn't make it to the markets. "You should enjoy the walk, Shikamaru, the day is lovely."
"It isn't that I'm not enjoying it." He shrugged, smoke billowing from his mouth. "It's that I'm not so good with missions that are so relaxed."
"Too bad, you better get used to it." Temari told him with a sideways grin. "No one's going to pay you to sit on your ass and look up at the clouds."
"Talk about unlucky." Shikamaru shot back.
This set the two of them into another round of bickering.
It was only growing hotter as the sun lifted into the sky. Eventually dirt and grass gave way to sand, and lots of it. The rolling dunes and shallow dips made for uneven terrain. Gaara kept a watchful eye for quicksand and other perils, but he didn't slow his speed. His pace was a hard one, one foot in front of the other. Temari was used to it, and kept up easily, but Hinata was not so lucky. Her pack had more than just mission provisions, and the added weight along with the heat of the day was starting to tire her out.
She denied the offered help all the same, she didn't want to be thought of as weak.
Gaara reached for his canteen, but as he unscrewed the top, he realized that it was already empty. Screwing the top back on, he clipped it onto his satchel once more.
"If you're thirsty, you can have some of mine." Hinata offered.
"I am fine." He told her simply.
"If you're thirsty, you should drink." Hinata was a medic, even if she wasn't as well trained as some of the others. "Thirst is the most basic sign of dehydration. I know your canister is empty, there was no water sloshing around inside." She all but shoved the bottle forward, forcing him to take it in hand.
"Unsanitary practice, is it not?" Gaara asked, giving him a searching look. "Sharing fluids?"
Well it wasn't exactly hygienic, but… "I am not ill." Hinata responded, feeling a bit embarrassed. "The water is fresh as of this morning. There hasn't any time for abnormal bacteria to fester."
"You're about to be a married man Gaara." Temari chuckled. "What is drinking out of her water bottle going to hurt?"
"We are village bound, promised to be." Gaara concluded with his usual dry certainty. "We are not yet wedded by the conventions of the church."
Temari ignored her brother's logic. It was sound, but entirely too formal. "Just think of it like an indirect kiss."
"A what?" He glared daggers into his sister. Something about that sounded inherently wrong.
"Here, look." She grabbed Shikamaru's bottle of water from his clip, flipped open the top, and took a sip. "That's like an indirect kiss, since his lips touched it before mine did. That's whole point."
"Odd practice." He looked down at the bottle in his hands, and held it back out for Hinata to grab. "Most unnecessary." He mumbled as his eyes fell to Hinata's lips. They were soft looking, and plump. Just thinking about that made a shiver go down his spine. He cleared his throat. "Do not listen to her bluster, it seems unsound." He said quietly to Hinata before walking just a little further ahead, his eyes downcast.
He had no idea what compelled his sister to do that, or why it seemed so entirely awkward, but there was one thing he was sure of. He absolutely, under no circumstances, would share Hinata's water bottle.
…
When nightfall came, the desert sands cooled their feet, and the air grew slightly chilly. The same white cloaks that kept the sun off of them, was now what kept the wind from doing the same. They had two options, continue walking, to find adequate shelter and rest. To Gaara, the choice seemed obvious. He commanded the sand to harden into a large dome, and ushered everyone inside.
He would need to keep everyone in the same place, or else he couldn't properly monitor the sand for cracks and breaks. Judging from the sky, there was no bad weather incoming, but one could never be too sure. Inside the structure it was dark, since they had no place for a fire. Since a few hours of sleep was the only goal, Gaara dismissed his initial concern.
It would be plenty warm enough with the sand acting as a barrier. "This shall be adequate lodging until morning."
"We're only about five hours hard run from Suna." Temari protested as she shook the sand out of her cloak. "In my opinion, we should have made the run."
"The matter of arrival is inconsequential." Gaara replied, examining his handiwork. The hard bottom the dome would ensure that no creatures crawled up from underneath during their respite.
"You say that, but Kankuro is probably at his wits end by now." Temari refuted, only to have her brother send her a firm glare. She could feel his ire, even if she couldn't completely see it.
"We are not running like uncivilized whelps to Sunagakure." He said rashly. He noticed that Hinata was watching him, slightly unsure of his display of temper. Closing his eyes he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It is unbefitting of our station." He said with less venom than before, but no less agitated. "Kankuro will see to matters until we arrive. That was the arrangement."
"Ah, I'm with Gaara on this one." Shikamaru said, already making himself comfortable in the far corner.
"You would be, you lazy ass." Temari growled.
"While I admit that I was sick of walking around in the dark, that wasn't my reasoning." Shikamaru sighed at length. "We want to look our best when showing up with Hinata. First impressions are important for thing kind of thing." He felt around for his pack of cigarettes. "Mind if I light up?" With a round of dismissal, Shikamaru did so. "In any event, it would be best if we all looked well rested."
"With all due respect, Shikamaru, I highly doubt that I'll be looking my best while coved with the grime of travel." Hinata stated as she unzipped her green flak jacket. Her shirt had seen better days, and even though she had another clean change of clothes for the next day, they were undoubtable wrinkled. "It isn't that I particularly mind, Sunagakure is a village of highly trained ninja. Looking a little rugged after several days of travel goes without saying."
"That's true, but it's also a village of stringent protocol. The council is filled with old men who have sticks crammed up their asses. They expect women to act in a particular way. Actually, it's kind of disgusting. The younger blood isn't quite so bad, thankfully." Temari corrected as she took her place by Shikamaru. "You did tell her what to expect, right Gaara?"
Of course he had. Perhaps he hadn't been crude about it, but he had picked Hinata because of her mindful qualities. "We shared words on the topic."
"If propriety is what they wish to see, propriety is what they will receive. I'm used to that tired old façade by now." Hinata said honestly, having been raised under those circumstances. The Hyuga clan made no qualms about demanding that a person act as their status dictated. "The only thing I ask is that there aren't any maids following me around at every turn. I'd rather do for myself, when it's sensible."
"Our maids are docile." Gaara said as he made sure all of his things were arranged as he liked.
"Our maids are terrified." Temari balked, not that she didn't understand why.
If it wasn't so dark, they'd be seeing a snarl on Gaara's face. Thankfully, it went unseen even by Hinata, since his back was turned to her. "They will act in accordance to the instructions given to them."
Hinata followed the implication as she rested her head against her pack. She could see the shadows of those around her. Temari and Shikamaru were close, only an arm's length away from each other. The respectable distance seemed strangely too far for either of them. They turned to face each other, and Hinata could see their hands cross the gap on the floor. She didn't need to guess at their relationship, she was sure it was well beyond the stage of hand-holding, even if they didn't exhibit that during missions.
Gaara was in the middle of the dome, he kept his distance from her. He'd been doing that since the start of the travel, and she wasn't sure why. She wasn't going to ask either, not with two other pairs of ears so near to them. Satisfied in her quiet loneliness, she let out a small sigh, and tried to fall asleep.
…
They woke just as the orange sun was coloring the clouds pink, a weather pattern that signaled a rough day of wind ahead, and that meant the possibility of storms. To avoid that outright, they took off at a moderate jog, avoiding breakfast and bypassing the oasis to the northwest, choosing instead to make a beeline to Sunagakure. They ran even faster when the sand started scattering more than usual, and clouds began to roll in.
"Uh, don't you think we should take shelter?" Shikamaru asked, not liking the look of the clouds as they slowly turned black.
"We have a little while before we actually see the storm." Temari said, looking up at the rolling black waves in the sky. "In fact, if we run fast enough, it may just pass right over us."
"Wishful thinking." Gaara chided. He knew it, the storm was going to last a long time, and cover a large area once it broke out. He could feel it in his armor, the moisture in the air was being sucked in by the sand on his body, slowly growing a little heavier than usual. "The desert is long overdue for rain." It seemed this storm was going to be it, and because of that alone it would last hours, maybe even days.
"By the sounds of it, we should just run through it." Hinata said sensibly.
"That would be ideal." Gaara agreed as his flicked his gaze to the woman at his side. "Do you have the endurance for such speed?"
Hinata nodded, she was a chunin after all, and she picked up her pace, prompting Gaara to do the same. The others followed.
So they ran through the unrelenting winds that gusted along the rolling dunes. When thunder rolled among the sky, and the clouds turned violently, they continued to run. For hours without stopping, they moved at such speed. Hinata lifted her fingers to her backpack, her thumbs hooking into the straps that held it tightly to her body. Every step forward she took, was one more step away from Konohagakure. She might have realized that before, but it was sinking in now.
Sinking in deeper as their run slowed, and she caught sight of all towering walls.
The sand village was her home now, and she realized there was no way could have prepared for the fanfare that would result from a union of such magnitude. The village Kazekage was getting married, that was no small matter. They entered the slim rock passage that surrounded the village, and then passed beyond the gates as they were drawn up by Gaara's own power. Each flick of his wrists sent the hard sand doors lifting on their own. They reached the inner walls of the village. Then, the opening gate to the village proper.
Here guards had already been notified of their Kazekage and his advance. They made way for him and his party. Instead of continuing, he stopped, uplifting another door. This one was a well-guarded passage that very few knew about.
"We will enter here." Gaara replied to his men. "Do not speak of our arrival."
"Yes sir!" The guards said while bowing deeply. One of them lit a lantern, and handed it to their leader with reverence. A lantern was also given to Temari.
"This will take us to the tower unhindered." Gaara told Hinata as the man guided her through the narrow passage. "There I will offer you respite while I speak with the council." He turned to Temari, giving her a brief glance. They shared that eye contact for just that moment, and Gaara turned to begin walking again.
"I know, take Shikamaru to his room…" Temari said with a little smirk. "I planned on that, you don't have to give me instructions. What about Hinata?"
Gaara took several more steps before replying. "I will assume that task."
They parted ways once they reached the end in the wall. He lifted the sand one last time to reveal a sitting room located in the Kazekage tower fortress. It was his personal one on the lower level. Temari and Shikamaru moved beyond him, going down the hall. Gaara closed the passage again, and turned to regard Hinata. Visitors rarely saw this area of his home.
It was used primarily for emergencies. The only one who frequented these lower rooms was Kankuro, or Gaara himself when he wanted to move around without being noticed.
He noticed Hinata glancing around, and answered her unspoken question. "We are below ground." Gaara said, as he took off his pack, and left it on a hook near the passage.
"Oh, I see." Hinata nodded.
"We shall travel upward now, to the top of the tower." He said, guiding her.
"Your home is quite large." Hinata commented.
"Offices." He explained simply.
"Even all of this down here?" She found that hard to believe. One door was left open, and she saw several bunkbeds.
"Servants quarters."
"So many of them?" She murmured with a little note of interest.
He nodded once more. "We have several under employ." He didn't see the need to inform her that all of them had at least graduated from the academy. That everyone had basic ninja training, even if little else. He didn't employ civilian blood into his home.
"It would seem that you'd have to have a lot of acquired help." Hinata admitted, not even guessing how many people worked in this tower. She glanced to the side, another door was open. The inhabitants of that room were young, their faces marked by paint. The three of them sported forehead protectors. "Those boys seem rather young. Do you take in children as well?"
Gaara blinked to the room in question. They were young, but they were not boys by any stretch. They were girls. They may have had boyish appearances, but the truth was, they were elite females who often partook in undercover operations. He wasn't sure why they kept their hair so short, but as disciples of puppet mastery, their war paint often mirrored that of their village's predecessors. Their baggy clothes hid their forms.
It was their voices that gave them away. He knew them by name, and by the colors of their paint. If they continued along their path, the three sisters had the possibility to become well renowned in their craft. Yet, with Kankuro as their mentor, Gaara wouldn't expect anything less. "Those girls are Sunagakure spies." He turned to Hinata then. "Do not mistake the inhabitants under this roof. For anyone other than yourself, it would be fatal."
They continued onward. High up the spiral they went.
He brought her to the place he considered his private quarters. It was a large space complete with kitchenette, sitting area, and two doors. One on each side of the room. "This is the Kazekage quarters." Each of the rooms were bedrooms, and he gestured to the one on the left. "You may claim this space until the nuptials have taken place." He then inclined his head a little. "Unless, of course, you wish to exercise your rights to the bedchamber earlier than that."
"This will do just fine." Hinata said to him.
"I will leave you to your respite." Gaara said as he turned on his heel. "You may wander the halls at your leisure."
The room he offered her was very plain, only a bed and a dresser sat in the small space. The walls were painted a sunny yellow. The way the bed was built into the wall dictated that this room wasn't often used. Resting against the wall was the wooden railing, and Hinata slowly began to understand. This room had once been a nursery. Now it was nothing more than the remains of a past Hinata didn't dare ask about.
She wondered if Gaara's mother ever rested beside him, as her mother had once done with her…
She wondered if he would permit her to do the same with her children. Rearing them with a nurturing hand, as she had always wanted to do. That future was not something she was entirely prepared to consider, but she set away her things. That's when a knock came to the wall. "Excuse me, miss. I was wondering if you'd take tea."
Hinata knew this girl. She often traveled with Gaara and Kankuro. "Matsuri!" Hinata greeted warmly. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"I've been well, thank you for asking." The younger woman bowed deeply. "Kazekage-sama asked me to acquire anything you might need. It will be several days until your luggage arrives."
"Please…don't do that." Hinata begged with a slight blush.
"But, this is what I should do." Matsuri replied as she righted herself. "You're to be wedded to the Kazekage. That does warrant at least some form of respect and acknowledgement."
"You've taken tea at my table too many times. I consider you as an equal." She really hated when people bowed, especially people with whom she served alongside. They were chunin exam rivals, war comrades, and now they were citizens of the same village. "So please, I ask that you don't bow to me unless the situation particularly calls for it."
"And here I thought I was being rather informal." Matsuri laughed as drew the curtains back, letting the sun into room. "Honestly, I do have orders to make sure that you've settled in. If there's anything you want or need, you just have to let me know. I'll get it for you."
The three girls from earlier peeked their head in. One red, one blue, and one green painted face caused with curious brown eyes. It was a good thing they had the paint on, because they were identical triplets. That would be the only way to tell them apart. It was the red faced girl who spoke. "Matsuri, your team members are looking for you."
"They've come back in one piece?" She asked with only a small little smirk. She was thankful, but it was only a two man cell currier mission that had them away.
"They're reporting to our master as we speak." The blue face girl said with a grin.
"Sounds about right." Matsuri told her, ruffling her short black tresses. "Go tell them I'm on assignment right now, but I'll join them for dinner at the usual place." They scurried off with little more than that. Matsuri shrugged at Hinata's small, amused smile. "Sorry about that. Kankuro uses them like little messenger birds sometimes. Cute, but deadly."
"Do you live in the tower too?" Hinata asked as she began folding her clothes.
Matsuri gathered fresh linens from the hall closet. "Sometimes. I'll stay to make Kankuro happy. I happen to share an apartment with my two teammates, so I mostly go there."
Hinata knew they were involved, but she didn't know the depth of their relationship, or what prompted it to begin. No one seemed keen to speak of it, and Hinata wasn't inclined to pry. Instead she merely finished putting away the few things she had left, and then began releasing herself of all of her weapons. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare weapons locker, would you?"
"In the main living room. It's under the rug. There's a compartment. I have no idea how to unlock it though." Instead, Matsuri pulled a lockbox from one of the shelves. "Will this do for temporary storage?"
"Yes." Hinata nodded, pleased with it. "That'll do perfectly."
…
He sat at his desk that evening, catching up on his paperwork. Hinata entered his office, as he had summoned her to do. The reason for this was simple. He needed more time with the woman to discern her preferences. She was to be the lady of his home, and he needed her to be comfortable in that role, no matter the cost. He would see to her every need, as he had promised.
"Gaara?" Hinata asked as she slipped through the door and closed it quietly behind her. "Did you call for me?"
"Indeed." He said to her, taking in the sight of a simple black shirt and leggings to go with it. He was sure the rest of her clothes were waiting to be washed. Due to the late hour, he saw no need to tend to that particular issue now. Instead he stood and came around to the sitting area he kept in the corner of the room. Offering Hinata a place, he sat across from her.
Gaara had even seen to refreshments. Hot chocolate to warm the belly. Mild vanilla wafers to compliment the flavor.
"We should share some words." He sat in a relaxed position, taking his cup in hand and sipping from it. "I wish to ascertain some of your preferences now, so they will not be a burden to you later."
"Preferences?" She found that a little more than strange.
"The living conditions must be adequate to your tastes." Gaara explained. "Your retainers should be too." He had jotted down a rather long list of thoughts that had come to mind. Everything from the color of paint in the bedroom, to the food kept in the refrigerator. "If you find anything to your displeasure, I would design to know of it, and see the matter be tended to."
Hinata frowned a bit. This was the Kazekage speaking to her now, not Gaara, the man she was going to marry. She had come to understand his dual image. He was far more outspoken in the times that it behooved him to speak…but this? It was saddening. She wasn't marrying him because of his wealth, or his power. He did have both of those things in spades, but, that was not why she had accepted his proposal.
She lifted her fingers to the gold chain around her neck. Gaara was not a man of finery and opulence, and she would much rather that he stayed that way. Spartan furnishings, practical décor, and all. "I have no intention of changing anything. It's perfectly alright the way that it is." She had told him once before, hadn't she? "I'll do the shopping, and the cooking. I would need someone to show me the way to the markets…" She looked away. Wives looked after their husbands…and wives with her particular training didn't sit idly by to watch servants do all the work.
"You wouldn't need to do that." Gaara said. "The staff here are excellent cooks. The caretakers of this tower fortress see to all of the needs that our livelihood demands."
"I hope you don't think that I'd oblige myself into a noble's position..." Hinata hated that idea. Hated it more than she hated the idea of being a simple clan heiress. "Being the lady of the house comes with particular responsibilities. I don't…" She sighed. "I'm not…" How could she best describe her feelings on the matter? "It isn't at all appropriate for a chunin of my blood and breeding to be thought of as merely the wife. Even if she is to be the wife of the Kazekage."
"I see." Gaara murmured quietly. A depth in his voice that told her he was thinking about it. He was thinking hard. "Then, what would you require?"
She didn't want to worry about her husband. She didn't want to spend sleepless nights tossing, turning, and wondering for his safety. She had long since admitted to herself that if she was going to warm any man's bed, that he had better be there to keep her warm in return. She wanted love. If she couldn't have that, she at least wanted security. She swallowed hard, the admittance was going to be tough to say. "Only that...well..you'll listen to me properly when I need you to." She said honestly.
Gaara's eyes widened just a fraction, and he leaned forward. This interested him, because while he knew Hinata wasn't greedy, he knew she had come from a fine background. "So you wish a common existence?" He had to be sure. "And to be heeded? That is all that you seek?"
"I have always wished to keep my husband's home." Hinata told him. It was an honest dream of hers, it always had been. "It's just…difficult…I don't want to give up my own independence because of it. I know that makes things hard when it comes to my protection, but…" She wanted to be able to live her own life too, alongside her husband, empowered by him and because of him.
Maybe she had been asking too much of the men she chose to care for. Maybe she was now asking too much of Gaara.
"I would prefer that you do not traverse the village streets alone." Gaara said then. "Furthermore, during times of duress, I will have to place you in the care of a retainer. Beyond that, I will leave the matter to you."
Hinata nodded agreeably. What else could she do but think of his inclination to protect her. If he wanted to, she would let him.
Gaara looked at the chain around Hinata's neck once more. It really did suit her, or so he often thought. It contrasted sharply with her pale skin. It stood out amongst the blackness of her shirt, the one adornment on the entirety of her body. It reflected the light, ever so slightly. She was easy on his eyes, her face that of porcelain perfection. She was a joy to take in, and her voice was a melody to his ears. He was not often a vain man, but he prided himself on his suitor. She would bear his offspring one day, strong and dignified, as his position demanded.
He wondered when the thought of that crossed his mind. He contemplated when he had become so like the father he loathed. Looking for perfection in every inch of his domain, and even amongst his family. Gaara couldn't be sure, and he wasn't set on trying to figure it out.
Instead he addressed his bride-to-be with the same forthrightness as always. "I will send an escort with you to the markets tomorrow. You may gather any items that will make your life at my side most comfortable." He then very pointedly made the subject as clear as he could. "The question of finances should never be a subject that crosses your mind."
"That really isn't something to worry about." Hinata denied quietly. "Everything is quite alright as it is. I don't need to change anything."
If it was fine, so be it, but Gaara didn't think that was possible. "I will still see it done." He replied simply. "Sunagakure has a large marketplace. You should view it for yourself."
"Would you take me?" Hinata asked then. She would feel more inclined to want to explore Suna, if he was her guide.
Gaara briefly thought about this. He had work to do, but if it would so please her, he would find some time. "You seek that?" He saw the woman made the affirmative answer, and so he replied in kind. "Tomorrow, we shall go."