Hinata smiled with open arms as Konoha natives bombarded her with affection loudly. She melted into the middle of the attention. Gaara was attacked by Naruto's excited questions, despite his calm answers. They wrote to each other, so there wasn't much to go over.

As Hinata's friends filtered off with his siblings to their places to rest. Naruto finally turned to her.

Hinata gave Naruto a smile and open arms. He picked her up in a warm hug. Hinata giggled, but Gaara felt something rip through him. Not his own discomfort but extreme anger and protectiveness coming from his beast.

Hinata squeaked as she was forcefully separated from Naruto's arms and pushed. Gaara caught her with an arm around her ribs to keep her steady. A ball of sand swirled to form in her arms into the form of a familiar small tanuki baring its teeth.

"Is that Shukaku!?" Naruto reached forward to touch the sand creature, and it snapped at him.

Hinata held Shukaku back, putting her hand in the way of damage. Shukaku retracted, burying his face in her ribs. "What is wrong with you?" Hinata scolded as she held Shukaku to her chest. "Feeling left out?"

"I believe it is more malice than simple attention-grabbing." Gaara frowned at Shukaku.

"Aw, he doesn't like me hugging Hinata-chan? That's not fair." Naruto whined.

"I'm sure he's just not feeling well. The wedding preparation is stressing us all." Hinata tried, always the peacemaker.

Gaara released his fiancée but kept his hand on her back. She kept her attention on the ball of sand.

"My head hurts," Hinata joined her fiancé on the couch. She curled up into his side with a sigh, finally in silence. Hinata felt the sand beast in her lap, an arm curled around her waist, and her headache ebbing away.

"The women were loud," Gaara noted.

"I feel bad, but I am glad they didn't come earlier. I couldn't take a week of all this." Hinata buried her nose into his shoulder.

"I wouldn't want that either. I would never get anything done." Gaara agreed.

Hinata giggled. "One more day."

"Then you will be my wife." Hinata could hear the odd realization.

"That is the idea." Shukaku rubbed its nose into her stomach as she petted it, wanting her attention. "What is it, Shukaku-san?"

"He wants to give you a wedding present," Gaara informed her.

"Oh? I don't need anything. I have my ring." Hinata said.

"He wants to… be dormant for our wedding and wedding night?" Gaara seemed confused.

A blush rose to her cheeks. "Oh… OH! Thank you, Shukaku-san, that's very thoughtful. I appreciate it." She hadn't thought about that. Their wedding day would be their first real full kiss. They hadn't got there yet, and then the wedding night… They hadn't talked about it.

"I don't get it." Gaara tensed against her. Shukaku grinned in her lap. "We haven't spoken about that." He added aloud.

"I think it will be fine. We can just see what happens." Hinata smiled, lifting her head to meet him.

The light touch of their lips was a comfortable press that set nerves off in waves. Hinata let her eyes slip close to focus on the building feeling. She almost missed the weight dissipating from her lap.

Soft. Soft and damp. That's what Gaara would describe her lips at first. He felt the familiar heat rise in his chest as she tilted her head and pressed forward. He was surprised she would want to further this relationship. He pushed the thought aside and focused on her comfort.

Gaara watched her eyes close, and the absolute trust she was giving him started a new fire. He pressed his lips closer, blindly setting the papers in his lap aside and burying his free hand into her loose hair as instinct took over. He was glad he had something to go on, but would this be what finally drove her away?

Hinata gripped on the front of his shirt and pull him to her. Her mouth opened to take a breath but didn't back away, and he felt himself shiver. He realized he had closed his eyes and opened them only briefly to see her red face and hooded eyes. His hands twitched, wanting to bring her closer, but he fought himself. Don't scare her. Gaara reconnected their lips. Her weight shifted. She kicked a leg over him and hovered over his lap, burying her fingers in his hair. The hand that was around her waist moved to her thigh. If ever asked, he would say to keep her in place.

A knock on the door distracted them both. "Kazekage-sama is Hinata-chan in there? Temari-san said to check here if she wasn't in her room." Hinata removed herself. Gaara instinctively tightened his grip on her thigh and head to keep her there. Hinata stared at him with her wide eyes and swollen lips with what looked like what he was feeling. The unguarded attraction and raw emotion made her even more attractive.

Hinata breathed heavily over his face to try to even her breath and leaned forward for the last kiss. Gaara deliberately released her, laying his hands to the side and letting his brows furrow as she stepped off him and tried to detach himself from the situation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Hinata bit her lip, breathing heavily. Fiddling with her ring behind her back.

"No," Gaara told her. "No, don't apologize." Her face lit up, and the tinge to her cheeks became bright with the smile she tried to hide.

"Kazekage-sama?" Hanabi asked again.

"I should go," Hinata leaned down to give him another kiss before stumbling off to the door as she straightened the clothes. She looked back one last time with a light touch of her fingertips to her lips and an embarrassed smile.

She was beautiful.