Chapter 2

Sunagakure - Kage Tower

"The town hall has been converted into a makeshift hospital," Matsuri reported, sighing. It's been a few days now since the attack had passed but they were still in a state of crisis.

Gaara nodded and then assessed the girl standing in front of him. She had been severely injured during the attack. Their medics had patched her up to the best of their abilities, but she was exhausted and in pain. He was sure that working around the clock wasn't helping either.

"... you need to get some rest," he said softly, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Matsuri sighed and tried to brush away from his touch but he strengthened his hold stilling the girl. The two were caught in their own world when Kankuro walked into the office brusquely.

"Gaara, look who's he-"... The man blinked looking at the scene he'd walked in on, and Gaara dropped his hold from the Kunoichi with a slightly annoyed look.

Matsuri turned to Kankuro with an eye roll, "What?"

"Am I interrupting something?" the puppeteer smirked, closing the door slightly as if to give them privacy from whoever was behind, but he himself peeked into the office more fully.

Gaara's forehead twitched in irritation, "what is it?" he asked, walking away from the middle of the room to stand behind his desk.

"Looook who's here" Kankuro said again in that singsong voice of his that was completely inappropriate given their current circumstances. But Gaara understood why once the older man was hit over the head with a fan as his older sister walked in. He sighed as some of the tension around his neck and eyes drained away, Temari was here. Thank god.

"Gaara!" She said warmly wrapping her youngest brother in a tight hug. She pulled away briefly at arms length to assess his person with a grimace, and then she pulled him back into an embrace. Once he opened his eyes and stepped away from his sister, he noticed Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and finally Hinata all piling into his office.

He turned to stone upon noticing the last person but before he could react Naruto was beside him pulling him into an embrace and then Temari, Shikamaru, Sakura, Kankuro and Matsuri all flanked together talking at each other and at him. Through all that chaos he continued to look over the heads of everyone in the room at the blue haired kunoichi standing nervously in the back of the room. She avoided eye contact with him but her presence captured all of his attention nonetheless even amidst all the commotion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and the room hushed. His voice sounded cold even to his own ears and Hinata turned red stuttering.

"What is she doing here?" he asked the room when an answer wasn't forthcoming from the Hyuga.

"Let's give these two a minute shall we?" Temari said firmly as she moved all the people and the chaos that had been in the room out the door with her.

"Sakura-san!" Gaara called out before everyone had left and the group stilled looking back in surprise. "Would you please look over Matsuri? She… is still recovering from the attack."

The pinkette blinked and nodded with a smile and the light brown haired girl couldn't hide her blush as everyone was again ushered out. Once the door closed with a soft click there was an oppressive silence in the room.

Gaara looked down at his desk with a sigh, finding it painful to look at her even after all the time that had passed. Given everything that had happened in Suna the last few days this was too much to handle. He felt the stress, weariness and the lack of sleep hitting him all at once.

When he finally looked up, Hinata was looking at him with concern… but her expression was also tinged with trepidation and fear. It was so similar to how she'd used to look at him before she lost her memory and yet so different at the same time that he wanted to snarl at her. He didn't want a shell of his former fiance. He wanted Hinata… his Hinata. But that wasn't possible anymore.

The last time he'd seen her she had looked pale, scared and haunted, but now she at least physically resembled the woman he'd fallen in love with. Her hair was a bit different… a bit shorter, but she glowed with good health dressed in her Konoha combat uniform. She must have been reinstated as a shinobi. He felt a flutter of hope despite himself… wondering if she remembered something?

"I asked, what are you doing here?" he repeated.

"I-I..." she stuttered once again, turning red.

"Hinata… I don't have time to deal with this… I don't have time to deal with you" he said, sighing.

She blinked at that, taking a deep breath and he saw that he had hurt her in the ways that her eyes flickered and her cheeks filled with color. Her mind was whirring trying to figure out what to say, he could sympathize with that. But their relationship was back to that of a Kazekage and a shinobi… so he would be as firm with her as he was with everyone else he thought as he continued to look at her with a grim face.

"Kazakage-sama, the Hokage assigned me to provide assistance to you and your family given the current circumstances" she said, seeming to have gotten control over herself.

He felt a flicker of pride at her for pulling herself together, but simultaneously was irritated at the Hokage's meddling. I don't need another fucking assistant Gaara thought to himself. Kakashi and his underhanded tricks...

"My shinobi status in Konoha is restored… and I am not a missing nin anymore. I can and would be happy to be of use."

Gaara sighed, rubbing his temple trying to figure out how to handle this. Sure, an extra hand and help was nice. But given Hinata's amnesia, she was someone everyone had to tiptoe around. They were worried about upsetting her and setting her off into another panic attack. He didn't need a wild card like this floating around, and he couldn't afford to take the time to babysit her.

"Go get settled into a guest room first at the Kage compound…" he said after another sigh, "we can talk later." He needed to have a chat with Naruto and Sakura first. "Please ask Naruto and Sakura to come in as you leave." Hinata seemed like she wanted to say more but she nodded firmly and left, her shoulders relaxing as she exited the room.

Gaara collapsed onto his chair feeling exhausted just as Naruto and Sakura walked back into the room.

"Why would Kakashi send her here?" he asked his friends without any preamble.

"She… really is doing better now," Sakura replied softly, looking at him with a bit of concern. "Her memory hasn't returned but we feel that she is growing back into her identity as a kunoichi and...and a woman."

Gaara nodded matter of factly. "Well that's good… but I no longer have any use for her," he said out loud.

Naruto and Sakura both flinched at that and Gaara had to remind himself that they were still Hinata's friends as well as his.

"Your engagement… is still undissolved am I right?" Naruto asked, sounding serious which was unlike him.

Gaara looked away guiltily avoiding eye contact with the blonde, "How can I consider it undissolved when my fiance hasn't even talked to me in over a year and a half? Besides… the Sunagakure council has petitioned to dissolve the engagement in the name of national interest and it passed… given the circumstances."

Naruto swore and sank down onto a seat looking shocked and Sakura gasped, grabbing onto Naurto's shoulder for support. "And you let them?" The blonde asked surprised.

Gaara blinked confused. There was nothing unreasonable about what he was saying, but then he realized who he was talking to. This was Naurto, the man who'd waited over a decade to be with the love of his life… Sakura. Persevered even when Sakura herself had no interest in the blonde for the longest time. Of course he wouldn't understand.

Gaara opted for a gentle tone, "You saw yourself how she was last time when you were here to escort her back to Konoha. She was terrified of me, didn't remember me, didn't want anything to do with me and still doesn't. What am I supposed to do with a fiance or a kunoichi who I can't even talk to?"

Naruto sighed with thin lips.

"It's not like I could even tell her everything that happened between us back then. The doctors advised us strictly that we weren't supposed to say anything that would confuse her or further distort her sense of self from what she remembered at 12. When I did try to tell her a bit about our relationship… it didn't go too well" Gaara said, flinging a look at Sakura who looked away guilty, "So yes… by Sunagakure law a marriage contract can be dissolved under such circumstances."

Sakura and Naruto were silent for a bit.

"Well… couldn't you have informed us that?" Naruto asked, this time more gently.

"I did…" Gaara replied with confused eyes. "I sent Kakashi a note a while back."

"Ah… Kakashi…" Sakura sighed, closing her eyes in frustration. "What… is going on between you and Matsuri-san by the way?"

Gaara cocked his head in confusion.

"It's just you two seem a bit different than when we last saw you. Your dynamic I mean."

The Kazakage felt himself grow a bit warm at her words. It's true Matsuri had been a great friend, comrade and even perhaps a companion since all with Hinata had fallen apart. "We have… grown closer" was all he would admit to Sakura and Naurto at this time. "She's been a great help to me both as a friend and a colleague."

"Ah…" Sakura nodded with a smile, but there was no censure in her eyes. It seemed that she understood what he had been trying to say between the lines.

Gaara nodded at Sakura appreciatively but couldn't hold back his dark laugh as he thought back to the bluenette heading to his home as they spoke. "What is this going to accomplish now? Sending her all the way here when it's all over?"

The Uzumaki couple looked at him sympathetically. "Perhaps you should send her home?" Sakura whispered even though it broke her heart to say that. She knew if the kunoichi was sent home Hinata was going to internalize feelings that she was useless. But looking at the state Gaara was in… Hinata's pain and well being wasn't the only thing to consider.

.


.

Hinata huffed and puffed softly as she lugged her bag up the stairs of the giant Kage mansion. She wasn't sure about other countries, but compared to Konohagakure the sand village really knew how to set their Kage's up in opulence. This house was enormous.

From her time here last, she remembered how to take the secret passage from the Kage tower to this compound. She knew the second floor of the Kage mansion was reserved for guests and the Kazekage family occupied the third floor. The house looked different… she blinked once she got to the second floor landing. Last time she'd been here it had also been decorated in neutral colors, however there had also been tasteful pops of color. Such as vases of flowers, gauzy curtains, art and beautiful furniture. But now it was empty…

All of the personality had been removed.

"What happened?" she absently asked Kankuro whose footsteps she heard coming down the stairs. It took her a second to realize she had unconsciously known it was Kankuro by the sound of his steps. How bizarre.

"Oh… Gaara redecorated" Kankuro said chuckling slightly while looking around. "I'm glad you are here Hinata, I didn't realize you would come to the Kage mansion so soon, I was just heading out actually. Will you be okay alone?" he asked, looking deeply at her face seriously.

"Um… yeah of course" she nodded distractedly feeling a bit shy. Even though she had talked to him very casually just now, she had no recollection of being friends with Kankuro. But like during her last visit to Sunagakure, he talked to her as if they had indeed been friends so she took the lead from him in that department.

With a wave she watched Kankuro leave and furtively looked up the stairs.

That was where Gaara's master suite was… she thought biting her lips. During her time in Suna last, she had tried to slip back into her role as Gaara's assistant, and as such she had thought she'd been helping when she entered his suite without his knowledge to put away a dry cleaned Kage robe. But upon entering his suite to her shock, she had found some of her belongings there. The main giveaway had been the picture frames. Pictures of herself and Hanabi, pictures of her with her genin team, a picture of her father and Neji… and the list went on she thought back blinking. That's when she had found out what everyone in Suna had already been privy to. That prior to losing her memory she had been the Kazekage's lover… or girlfriend or whatever...

She honestly had no idea what they had been to each other or doing together. But that knowledge is what had inevitably led her to having a meltdown and losing her mind a bit. She sighed deeply as those painful memories rushed over her.

"They aren't there anymore" a curt voice came from behind her and she turned with a gasp.

"W-what" she asked, stammering seeing the man of her thoughts materialized in front of her. She raised her hand to her hammering chest willing her heart rate to calm down.

"Your belongings… I threw them away."

She nodded jerkily. That wasn't unexpected per se. She had only taken the pictures with her when she fled to Konoha. A majority of her clothes and other belongings (that she'd had no recollection of owning) had been left behind.

"You can grab any of the guest rooms" he said, mildly interrupting her thoughts. His tone was courteous but impersonal.

She nodded with understanding, turning to leave, but looked back at the last minute feeling brave, "you said… we were lovers." She turned into the shade of a tomato.

Gaara simply raised an eyebrow.

"Back then before I left. You said we were lovers but what… what did we mean to each other exactly? Because...I can't shake this feeling that it was more than a simple one or two night stand."

"Why do you say that?" he asked with his eyebrows drawn together.

"W-why else would my belongings have been in your room?"

"We were living together," he replied indifferently.

"We...we…we?" she stammered. That was horrifying. A main house daughter of the Hyuga clan shacking up with a man before marriage. What had she turned into? Her father would turn over in his grave.

"Did… my father know?" she asked in a whisper.

Gaara blinked almost as if that question had taken him by surprise. "Hiashi-sama…" he said carefully after some thought. "He…um… passed away shortly after you had left Konoha and was labeled a missing-nin. Hanabi didn't tell you?"

"I didn't ask." she sighed. "Why didn't you tell me we had been living together before I left for Konoha?"

"You seemed too disturbed last time… and disgusted by me… for me to tell you that. Plus I thought it was obvious given your belongings being in my suite?"

She HAD been disturbed and disgusted. Her lips wobbled. "And y-you just let me g-go?" she asked in a broken voice irrationally.

Gaara looked at her tears with an impassive face but finally sighed deeply and closed his eyes as if he was losing patience. "What do you want from me, Hinata?" he asked, frustrated. She stared into his sea green eyes, feeling lost… What did she want?

He was handsome, she decided then upon observation. She hadn't been able to truly appreciate that last time.

He had a chiseled face with a strong jaw, nose and firm mouth…his eyebrows disappeared into his face as they were strikingly lighter than the color of his hair but… it looked good on him. If anything it made him even more authoritative and intimidating, especially with his height and the Kanji symbol on his forhead.

All this combined with his aquamarine eyes was a very unsettling combo.

She didn't think he was handsome per se, not like Naruto was handsome in a shiny and sunny way, instead... Gaara was striking. But even now when she looked at him despite the man he'd turned out to be who commanded so much respect, she saw flashes of the little boy she remembered who had crushed his fellow shinobi to death with his sand. She shivered. He had been a monster. She swallowed.

Gaara blinked almost as if he read her mind and then turned moving past her heading up the stairs when an answer from her to his question was not forthcoming.

.


.

Day 2 in Sunagakure

"Ugh" Hinata grunted as she scooped up another pile of rubble and moved it to her wheelbarrow.

She had been assigned as part of the city clean up crew. Standing in the blistering sun and getting glared at by Matsuri-san from time to time when she visited had certainly given her some time to think and put things in perspective. She now had to agree with Gaara. What had the Hokage been thinking when he sent her here?

Sure she was an extra hand to help, but Konoha had many shinobi who could come work in a clean up crew. Sending her over felt intentional and it wouldn't be an accidental move by the Hokage. She was past baggage for Gaara and a distraction if you will… So why had Kakashi done this? She didn't know enough information to start speculating, so this line of thinking usually just led her straight into a headache.

Hinata wiped her forehead and continued to move blocks of stone and concrete from the rubble into the wheelbarrow. She wasn't a stranger to hard labor, many missions she'd taken over the last year had been C-rank and as such had involved manual labor. But doing this in the sweltering sun was particularly punishing.

Sakura upon arrival had immediately jumped into the medical squad and Naruto, Sasuke, Temari and Shikamaru were probably holed away with Gaara doing whatever it is that they did…. And here she was toiling away.

"Hinata-sama" a Sunagakure shinobi smiled and bowed to her as they passed by and Hinata smiled back and waved before returning to work. Even last year when she'd been here briefly before fleeing to Konoha, she'd noticed that apparently she had developed a good rapport with the Suna citizens.

She looked around once more at the magnitude of damage to the city. Thankfully a lot of the buildings downtown weren't totally destroyed but they had sustained heavy damage.

Who would do this?… she couldn't help but think as she returned to work feeling anger boil inside her.


Kazkage Tower - War Room

The largest meeting room in the Kage tower had been converted into a war room for the purposes of providing centralized command and support during this crisis. Many of Gaara's senior leaders had already come in for a morning huddle. Now it was only a select few core operational officials and some senior delegates from neighbouring nations left in the room.

"Most of my uninjured anbu and a few s-ranked jounin squads have been deployed to find out more about the source of the attack," Gaara said, pointing to the various locations of the map where he'd sent the squads.

"Right, do you have enough shinobi here for localized defense?" Naruto asked.

Temari jumped in, slipping back into her role as the Defense Minister easily, "Based on the reports I've reviewed we have enough manpower due to the shinobi we were loaned through ally nations. But we need yourself and Sasuke to head to the Land of Earth leading a squad. No matter how many people we have out there… you two have unique strengths in espionage and jutsu. Shiro here" she said nodding to the delegate from Iwagakure "can support you."

"Understood," Naruto nodded. "You have a lead there?"

"Yes…" she said cryptically looking at Shiro, allowing the other shinobi to jump in "there's been rumors for a while and now we have leads to go on, of a new arm of the Akatsuki developing" Shiro added pulling out a few reports and distributing them to the occupants of the room.

Sasuke turned curiously at this announcement and walked over to Naruto to look over the reports.

After Shiro briefed the team on the evidence from Land of Earth, the group spent another two hours going over Naruto/Sasuke's mission parameters and various contingency plans.

It was time to break for lunch when Gaara asked curiously,"where's Hinata?"

Temari looked at the red head confused at the sudden change in topic, "she… was assigned out to duty today, am I right?" she asked Matsuri.

"Yes, she's on the clean up crew." Matsuri replied, looking at Gaara closely to monitor for any expression changes. However all he did was nod neutrally at the girl who happened to be his Chief of Staff.

"You know you could have just sent her home with Shikamaru," Naruto grumbled.

Shikamaru had headed back to Konoha earlier this morning now that his wife was settled in Suna for the time being. Given his advisory role to the Hokage he couldn't be gone from Konoha for days at a time.

"We need all the people we can get," Temari countered firmly, while Matsuri looked at the older Kunoichi with some disapproval. It hadn't been a secret to anyone in Suna that the younger girl had disliked the Hyuga for the entire duration Hinata had been at the Sand Village.

"Anyway…" Matsuri interjected, "Maybe this time around Hinata can prove to be of value instead of a hindrance like last time…" the room stalled to an oppressive silence. Her lack of honorifics when referring to the other girl was noticed by all and the Konoha crew (mainly Naruto as it was hard to get an emotion out of Sasuke even in a catastrophe) shifted uncomfortably unsure whether to take offense or not.

"On that note, I need to head back out and check on how things are going" Matsuri stood up from where she was sitting.

Gaara nodded excusing her and then looked at Naruto and Sasuke firmly, "Your team will head out tomorrow morning."

.


.

Kage Compound - A week later

Hinata seasoned the fish stew she was making for dinner to go with rice and pulled her shirt up discreetly to apply another pain reliever patch to her lower back. Due to the hard labor of her assignment her entire body usually hurt by the time she got off duty. She winced lightly as she walked over to the pantry trying to find bay leaves. It was around 8 PM now and she had the kitchen to herself. Actually she had the whole Kage mansion to herself.

She had been in Sunagakure for about a week now and it was enough time to figure out that the Kazekage compound had almost no residents until 10 or 11 PM. Everyone was busy with the current crisis and focused on restoring order to the city or was tasked with investigating the attack. So Hinata usually had the house to herself before she headed off to bed.

"What are you doing?" a gravelly voice came from behind her and she jumped. It was the Kazakage! She hadn't seen him since the day of her arrival and his sudden presence all of a sudden startled her.

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked without thinking and could have cursed herself.

He didn't bother replying to that and watched her flush to a red instead.

"I meant…" Hinata breathed trying to calm down and will away the blush spreading through her body, "I haven't seen you come in for dinner before."

"I didn't come for dinner," he said lightly, taking a look around the kitchen. "I got dirty while helping rebuild the Northern wall and just needed to get cleaned up before heading back into the office."

She nodded now taking a closer look at him observing his dirty and dusty clothes. She felt a lot more stable looking at Gaara this time around compared to a few days ago. She no longer felt like she was at the edges of a panic attack being alone with him.

Gaara without any other words nodded and turned to head upstairs and she bit her tongue as she resisted the impulse to ask him to stay for dinner. She hated to eat alone. She still wondered why she was allowed to stay at the Kazekage compound when the other shinobi from ally nations had been asked to stay at hotels. Naruto and his friends were usually invited to stay at Gaara's residence so perhaps she also qualified. Or perhaps it was a technicality carrying over from their past relationship, but she wasn't going to complain… She liked the privacy and the peace and quiet here.

The front door opened again and this time a medic she had been introduced to as Yuri during her time here last walked in. He was the Kazekage's personal doctor, and the Chief of Medicine in Suna. Hinata smiled automatically remembering the kindness he had shown her in the past.

"Hinata..." he stopped in surprise. "When did you get back?"

"Oh… with Sakura and them a few days ago."

The man smiled at her widely and walked towards her inquisitively. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad" she smiled a bit uneasily. She wasn't sure how to sum up her current state.

"Can I?" Yuri asked and Hinata understood he was asking to examine her. So she nodded and he directed her to take a seat on one of the dining room chairs before applying chakra to his fingers and poking and prodding her head moving her hair out of the way. He was doing a body scan she knew. He had been the one to initially treat her when she was sent to Sunagakure.

"I didn't realize you were still her doctor," Gaara muttered walking down the stairs fresh from a shower with a change of clothes.

Yuri did not startle at the sound of the Kage and slowly let her long hair fall back over her neck as he finished his exam. Afterwards he remained touching her shoulder and she realized he was applying chakra to her back.

"Hinata, if your back is hurting again I want you to come see me, okay?" the man told her firmly before turning to the Kazekage.

"Gaara" Yuri replied in a simple greeting not intimidated by the other man's presence. Perhaps because of what they had been through together, the two seemed to have a particularly informal relationship. Apart from Naruto, Hinata had started to get the sense that Yuri was Gaara's closest friend.

The red head hiked his eyebrow, clearly expecting a report of the exam but also narrowing his eyes to the spot where the man's hand still rested on Hinata.

"What?" Yuri asked, "You are no longer her employer or… boyfriend was it? You aren't entitled to an explanation."

"I'm still the Kazakage" Gaara said in a liquid voice and Yuri walked away laughing, heading upstairs. "Nice to see you back Hinata, let's catch up later."

There was a few seconds of silence in the room after the charismatic doctor had left. "Would you like some food?" Hinata asked, distracting Gaara.

He blinked at her and then walked over to the kitchen island to observe what she had made.

"I thought you forgot how to cook?"

"Oh I relearned… it came quickly back to me once I started experimenting with recipes" she replied.

Gaara looked up at her sharply. "That's all, just cooking? No other memories?"

She bit her lip self consciously. She hated to let people down. "I… yeah… just cooking," she sighed.

Gaara blinked and was quiet. Almost as if he retreated back into himself. She continued to look at him nervously, but finally added brightly when she could no longer stand the silence, "I'll get you some!'' and he didn't rebuke.

It didn't take Hinata long to have the rice and the fish curry served up on the dining room table with some side dishes and fresh herbs on top.

"I'm sorry… if I knew you'd be joining for dinner, I would have made more of a formal dinner."

Gaara looked at her confused. "This is fine… I usually barely have time to eat" he said almost as an afterthought.

She blinked, surprised. The last time she'd been so traumatized from the memory loss she hadn't really paid attention to things like that. To be truthful, she didn't think she had done much at all as his secretary for those few weeks or months that she'd been here. It was all a blur to her.

Shaking away those thoughts Hinata observed Gaara serving himself food and giving thanks to her before digging into the meal. She held her breath as she watched him eat but didn't ask any questions.

"Is this how you've been getting meals the last week?" Gaara asked after a few seconds.

"Um... yes."

"I thought food vouchers or rations were supposed to be distributed to each of the shinobi" he frowned.

Hinata hadn't been offered any food vouchers by anyone, but instead of admitting to flaws in his administration she opted for, "I didn't mind cooking for myself, I hope it's okay I used your kitchen?"

He further narrowed his eyes at he. "Tell my housekeeper whatever ingredients you need from now on, I'm guessing you bought this all yourself."

Hinata didn't comment. It's true she had paid for the groceries herself. She would never use the Kazekage's rations without permission.

"What happened to your back?" Gaara asked again a few minutes later.

"Ano…" she hesitated, "it's just sore from… work. It's not a big deal," she smiled trying to reassure him.

He assessed her again doing a quick sweep of her person with his eyes from head to toe and then redirected his attention to his meal. His gaze made her a bit uncomfortable but she watched with satisfaction as within a few more minutes he finished one portion of food and served himself another. After he was done his dinner he took his dish over to the sink to rinse it.

"I have to go," he said, turning around and putting on the Kage robes he'd set on the chair next to him, "Thank you for the food, it was delicious."

Hinata smiled accepting his gratitude but she was sad all the same as she watched him leave. It was late and everyone seemed to be busy… she felt a bit useless sitting here doing nothing.

.


.

Kazekage Office - Next Day

After gathering with the Suna officials and delegates in the War room, Gaara and Matsuri headed back to the Kazekage office to review some of the urgent business on their agenda.

"Here are the shinobi contracts that need to be reviewed for renewal. The administrative contracts I have already renewed but would be happy to discuss with you if need be. And these are the candidates that would be suitable recruits for this years enrolment of the Anbu forces"

"Right, sounds good," Gaara nodded.

"Okay well I should get going, I have to head over to the Eastern offices today…" Matsuri mumbled looking at her watch.

"One more thing" he started before he lost his will, "pull Hinata from the cleaning crew" Gaara finished, almost hating himself. He had promised himself years ago when he appointed various officials that he wouldn't use his position as Kazekage to influence the actions of his officials unless there was an imperative reason. Right now interfering on behalf of Hinata… was directly contradicting that.

"What?" Matsuri asked, confused.

"You heard me," he repeated firmly despite his misgivings as the Kuinoichi continued to give him an incredulous look. "We need someone to scan the parcels coming into the Kage office for dangerous goods, and Hinata as a byakugan user would be an ideal fit."

"What…?" Matsuri scoffed. "Gaara... I thought you weren't soft on her anymore."

"I'm not being soft," he said lightly tapping his pen on his desk, "She's still healing from a brain injury and it occurred to me that having her loiter around in the sun all day probably isn't the best."

The brunette hiked up an eyebrow laughing. "Shinobi are expected to do whatever is needed on duty, plus she's been cleared for duty by her doctors. Did…she ask you for this?" Matsuri asked with a bite in her voice.

Gaara disregarded that question. "Are you disagreeing with a direct order?" he countered instead and he watched her face freeze in disbelief as the tiniest bit of hurt passed through her eyes. Fuck… he cursed himself internally. Matsuri laughed with disbelief and got up to leave, her tea and cake half finished on the desk. Great… now he's pissed off his Chief of Staff but even worse his friend. Plus he felt as if in the last few months they've been on their way to being something more potentially.

"I-.." he started perhaps thinking to apologize, but she turned and left the room before he could formulate a sentence. Gaara sighed and dropped his pen turning his attention to his coffee.

An hour later Gaara was immersed in his work and had managed to get past most of his guilt when a hesitant knock came at his door. He looked up in surprise... he didn't have a meeting for another hour… and he wasn't expecting anyone.

"Come in" he called out and a lobster red Hinata came into the room. Except this time her redness wasn't as a result of a blush. He sighed looking at the sad sight. It seemed that he had acted just in time.

"Kazakage-sama, Matsuri-san advised me to come find you." she said softly in a modulated voice.

"Right" Gaara nodded, "I need you to-" But before he could finish his thought Hinata swayed and her eyelids drooped slightly before she collapsed onto the floor and he blinked in shock before standing up in alarm and kneeling beside her in a flash.

"Hinata?" he shook her shoulder calling her name but she was out cold. He felt for her pulse and upon noticing that it was sluggish immediately gathered her in his arms heading towards the medical office in the Kage tower. "Get Yuri in here" he snapped at a passerby shinobi who jumped into action.

People continued to look over at the couple speculatively as he walked with her in his arms. He was sure new rumors about them would be circulating within the hour. Great… this was just what he needed.

Yuri was usually at the konoha hospital so it took him about 15 minutes to arrive. During that time Gaara had cursed himself internally a thousand times over for allowing her to toil away in the scorching sun for as long as he did. He knew she wasn't great with heat… she'd always struggled during the day when out and about in the harsh Suna sun. Why hadn't he interfered sooner was all he could think as he observed her. She looked as if she was sleeping but her pulse was still weak and she was paler than usual… Where was that damn Yuri?

"What happened?" Yuri asked curtly as he came into the room finally. Gaara had been standing next to Hinata holding her hand all that time.

"That's what I'd like to know," the red head snapped, not taking his gaze away from Hinata.

"I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside this time," Yuri replied, giving Gaara a firm look.

Gaara glared back at his friend and his sand started to whisk around him signalling his agitation.

Yuri blinked, "oh well … I tried" he muttered before urgently moving towards Hinata.

The medic went on to spend about 15 minutes examining Hinata, checking and noting down various measurements before proceeding to draw a vial of her blood. "Let's start with a blood test," he finally said, "it's most likely dehydration… but let's be sure and you can let her rest here… I am going to hook her up to an overnight IV drip."

Gaara nodded, glancing down at his watch. He was due to attend a meeting in just a few minutes, and he couldn't afford to be late. Not in this current situation.

"Keep me updated" he said firmly to the medic before walking out of the room. Distracted and feeling out of sorts he resisted the urge to rub his chest. It had been so much damn simpler before she came back to Suna.

.