"Walk through the village?" Gaara raised a non-eyebrow.
"We never leave unless Temari-chan drags us out," Hinata explained. "I want to see the village from your perspective."
"I guess." Gaara stood, to her excitement.
Hinata walked close to him, holding his arm at the elbow with a smile as they spoke. Gaara explained details as they walked through Suna. People stopped to watch in shock and confusion. People saw them out with Temari but never just him out in the streets with his future wife. He expected the reaction. He was respected, but he was still feared.
People had heard about the Konoha woman their Kage was marrying but hadn't seen her for more than a few brief moments or during the storm when they were all focusing in something much direr.
The pale woman with equally pale eyes warmly wrapped around and happily spoke to their terrifying leader. No one touched him, even his siblings, so her open affection was noticeably jarring.
Hinata was blissfully ignorant as they continued to walk through the town. Children played in the streets, unaware of their parent's behavior. Her smile dropped at them, commenting, pointing over to playing children. Gaara nodded. She released his arm and passed the majority of the children to an alley between two homes. He watched the reactions of the parents. Most twitched between him and her, wondering if they should gather their children out of her way.
Hinata crouched down to the hiding figure. "Hello, I'm Hinata." She received no reply. "Not playing with the others?"
"No." The little girl sank into her spot where she thought she was unseen. "Your eyes are scary."
Hinata didn't mean to scare her. "I'm sorry. Would you like me to close them?"
"My face is scary, too." She whispered, barring her face deeper into her knees.
"I can make mine scarier." Hinata tilted her head to the side with a smile. "Want to see?"
The girl nodded. Hinata activated her Byakugan. The veins popped out of her face, and the girl looked up entirely, blinking at her. Across the stretch of her forehead, brows, and eyes were deep white scars. The eye itself was missing small, almost unnoticeable chunks. An accident, birth complication? Not that it mattered.
The girl reached for her face. Hinata lowered to let her feel the veins. "Not so scary. If I go play with my eyes, will you play with yours?" Hinata held her hands out.
The little girl was a little too eager to play. She let Hinata pull her to where the other children played and sat on her knees, smiling over to Gaara, who watched her like a hawk. Did he think she was going to do something to the children? Certainly, he didn't think the children were a threat.
The little girl touched her face again, mesmerized now that they were in full flight. Hinata glanced around at the interested children. "Anyone else wants to try?" She closed her eyes, and the children took turns brushing their sand-covered fingers over her temples.
"Yours too." One touched the little girl's forehead without hesitation, making Hinata and the little girl freeze.
The girl gave a large missing tooth smile as they took turns feeling the deeply healed scars. She had never seen a child so happy to be touched.
Gaara watched Hinata with confusion as she let the children touch her and the girl's faces. He glanced around at the parents, watching with relaxed shoulders. He wouldn't move closer and alert them of his presence again.
As the children started to play around her, she got up, brushing her legs off but not her face. She bent down to the girl she coaxed out of the alley and pointed to where he was standing. He stiffed as the parents looked to see him once more. The little girl hugged her legs, nearly throwing her off balance.
Hinata patted the little girl's head and returned to him, retaking his arm. Some of the children bolted for their parents to tell them what happened. Some continued to play with their new, less insecure friend.
"You still have dirt on your face." Gaara raised a hand to brush some of it away.
Hinata stopped him with her free hand. "Leave it there," Hinata smiled at the playing children. "At least the children like me."
As if to prove her point, the little girl ran toward them, setting parents on edge as the other children followed. Hinata stepped forward to the girl's open arms and gladly picked her up for one last hug.
Gaara couldn't remember the last time he saw children this willingly close to him. She turned to give him the brightest smile as she put the child down, promising to come back to play another day.
"Heard you made quite the scene yesterday." Matsuri sat across from her, glaring at the paperwork she requested.
"Oh? Was it that mentionable?" Hinata wondered.
"The Kazekage walking through town and his fiancée leaving him to play with children in the street. Yes." Matsuri spat with hostility.
"Matsuri-san, I asked Gaara if he would mind before I went. I know he's not normally comfortable out." They returned shortly after because her fair-skinned cheeks and nose were turning red in the sun.
"How does that make him look?!" Matsuri slammed the folder. "You might want to show off and act like some kind of angel, but it makes it look like he's gone soft!"
Hinata closed her notes. "Matsuri-san, I'm not sure if I'm the one you should be talking to. If you have concerns about his image, you should speak to him. He agreed to the outing."
"Why are you here?!" Matsuri yelled.
Hinata tilted her head. "My office?"
"No, you stupid stuttering wench. Why are you here? Why are marrying Gaara?" Matsuri screeched in frustration. "And while we are at it, why ARE you in this office? Why are you taking Temari's job?!"
Hinata blinked at her. "Did no one tell you what's going on?"
"A stupid treaty? Hyuga trying to wiggle their way into Suna?!" Matsuri yelled. "Or is everyone lying to me that everything is fine?! Is this marriage to keep us from war? Don't lie to me!"
Hinata's mouth fell open. She really had no clue what was going on. "Please, sit down. I'll tell you everything from the beginning. I think you just misunderstood." Matsuri plopped into her chair and crossed her arms. She reminded Hinata so much of Hanabi so much it was painful. "Before I met Gaara, I made a deal with my clan for my position," Hinata told Matsuri the story from the beginning until she came to the village where Matsuri would have known from there.
"He asked you to marry him after hearing your story?" Matsuri asked after Hinata finished.
"I don't know what made him decide to marry me. I'm grateful. I'm so much happier here, and I've grown much closer to him in these few months than I thought I would with an arranged marriage in a few years." Hinata pierced her lip. "I don't tell you any of this to make you like me. I understand your distaste for the foreign woman marrying your Kage that I am you want to protect. I just want you to know I never expected any of this. You don't have to believe me, but please know I don't resent you for your dislike for me."
Matsuri trembled angrily and let out a loud sob. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were drowned in tears.
Hinata stood in alarm. "Matsuri-san?"
Matsuri covered her mouth to muffle another sob. Hinata tripped over her chair to get to the girl dropping to her knees to put her fingers on the girl's shoulders. Hinata curled around her. Matsuri buried her face into Hinata's scarf and dug her fingers desperately into her shoulders. Hinata hid her wince and held her tightly.
Gaara could feel the irritation directed at him when Hinata walked in. Her arms crossed, her face stern. She was hiding her anger in the tightness of her fingers around her arms. Her lips were in a thin line as she approached his desk. He pushed his work to the side. "Yes?"
"Why was Matsuri-san never told about what happened between you and me in Konoha?" Hinata asked pointedly.
Not what he expected. "I didn't think she needed to know. I didn't think it was necessary."
Hinata's eyebrows knitted forward. "Did you ever wonder why she hated me so much?"
No. Gaara assumed it had something to do with her usual attitude. "No."
"She's your student! You didn't even consider how she might feel if she suddenly had to answer to a foreign woman that you were forced to marry?" Hinata waved her hand in frustration.
"Forced?" Gaara asked with a twitch.
"That is what she thought! She thought Konoha was forcing you to marry a Hyuga to keep the peace. She thought you were being nice because you had to. That poor girl thought I was trapping you in a miserable marriage so that I could get the Hyuga here." Hinata's shoulders dropped, as did her arms, as she waved them toward the door. "She was scared for you and beating herself up over it because she thought you haven't told her anything because you weren't allowed. She drew all this in her head because you never bothered to speak to her about it."
Gaara hadn't thought Matsuri would draw that kind of conclusion. He just never thought she would be so concerned as to spin an elaborate fantasy of his marriage.
"I took her home," Hinata explained. Matsuri was usually in his office around this time, giving her reports. "She might be quiet for a few days, but I think you should talk to her when she's ready." Hinata sat down on the chair on the other side of his desk. She relaxed back and squeaked. He shot up. "Sorry." She sat up straighter.
"You're hurt," Gaara commented.
"Just a small bruise," Hinata rolled her shoulder.
"She hit you?" Gaara knew Matsuri was unhappy with Hinata, but to strike her?
"No! She didn't mean to hurt me. She was upset. No, that sounds worse." Hinata put her hands up defensively. "They are just little finger bruises." She wasn't making him feel better.
"Show me." Gaara stood up.
Hinata removed the outer robe, turned, and swiped her long hair to the side to show him her back.
Gaara rounded the table. Her shoulders held fresh darkening finger marks where she was grabbed. But they weren't in a position where it looked like she was shaken or held down. He shifted the fabric to see the full bruise. "How did she inflict these."
It was obvious Hinata was hiding it, but this wasn't a secret she should be keeping. "She… hugged me too hard."
"Hugged?" Matsuri didn't hug.
"She was upset." Hinata was hiding the full extent of the incident. How upset was Matsuri? "Please don't worry about it. I'll get them healed. Just speak to her when she comes to you. Not about these."
Hinata was right. She was a second-hand source. It would be best to speak with Matsuri firsthand about this. He leaned forward, laying his forehead on her shoulder, letting the stress go into her skin. She softened, and he comfortably slipped his hands from her shoulders to around her ribs, centering them under her bust. She curled her fingers over his, leaning her head on his.
Comfort.
Gaara sighed, making her go rigid. Her heart rate quickened under his fingers. He didn't want to retract. He tightened, sliding his arms more fully around her, crossing his forearms across her ribs. Hinata's arm followed, giving him the painful realization that her finger brushing his forearms also affected him. These feelings were getting more intense with each revisit.
Hinata closed her eyes as her heart pounded in her chest. Gaara curled fully around her in response to her embarrassment. He calmly breathed, lifting his head from her shoulder.
Warm damp lips touched her shoulders. Hinata felt her skin tingle with a new level of heat. She squeaked as her heart stopped. Gaara moved to release her but dug her fingertips into his arm to keep him there. She didn't want him to see her face or ask questions.
Gaara took her refusal to leave as permission. He pressed another soft kiss higher to her bare shoulder. Her breathing hitched, feeling the tingling pressure spread, and she scrunched her eyes closed again to focus on the feeling. She loosened her grip on his arms, softly holding them in place, letting out a heavy breath.
Gaara set another light press on his lips higher, and she let out a strangled sigh before he pressed his face into her shoulder so that she could feel the heat in it. "We are being laughed at."
Hinata squeaked, covering her face. "Shukaku-san privacy!"