Hinata told him about her day, but it was clear she kept avoiding something. She would pause and reword. She would turn red when she stopped talking. There was something.

Cute.

Shukaku curled around her as she went about the room and talked, trying to get her attention. Though, she didn't stop to pick him up until she sat down, which frustrated him. Shukaku plopped in her lap, curled tightly, putting down pressure, so she couldn't get up until he wanted her to.

"What's wrong? Did you have a bad day?" Hinata pet him, directing the question to him when Shukaku made no move.

"It wasn't terrible. He has just been yelling profanity since you missed lunch." Gaara explained.

"I'm sorry, we ran late. I sent a message. Didn't you get it?" Hinata leaned her face down to him.

"We did. That's what started it." Gaara was far past used to having a productive day with Shukaku's yelling annoyances, but it didn't make it any less annoying to be yelled at for the better part of a day.

Hinata grabbed either cheek of the sand beast and made his false eyes look at her. "I need you to be more patient. Torturing him because I missed lunch isn't fair. Yell at me."

Gaara felt his lips twitch into a smile as Shukaku complained. Gaara sighed, laying back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "Will you be telling what you have been avoiding?"

Hinata paused her petting briefly. "No, I will not."

"Okay." Gaara pulled her down beside him. Hinata giggled. Shukaku disintegrated, irritated that his spot on her lap was removed, as she curled into his side.

"Are you upset with me?" Hinata readjusted her head.

"I don't like it when you hide things from me. You are not good at it." Gaara wasn't one to notice such things in people unless he was suspicious of them. Temari kept her infatuation with the shadow nin from him until Kankuro made a joke that needed to be explained.

"It's nothing important. It's nothing to bother with now. When I think it is something big enough to bother you with, then I will bother you with it. I promise." Hinata laid her head closer, kissing his shoulder.

Gaara curled around her, making her let out another giggle as she was covered by him.

"Don't act so childish." Hinata scolded with a smile against his neck.

"OH!" A squeak came from the hallway.

"Sorry, Hinata-sama." Gaara heard after his wife's voice.

"No, it's fine. It was my fault." Hinata continued to out with the sound of ruffling papers before she slipped into his office, red in the face.

"Did you fall?" Gaara asked as she set the folder on his desk.

"No, just a run-in," Hinata whispered bashfully.

"What are these," Gaara asked as she rearranged the papers in the right order.

"These are the profiles of those who will be coming once the compound is finished, all clean of Hyuga secrets. I thought you would like to take a look at them if you found the time." Hinata explained. "I haven't found any issues, though I have only had time to skim. I know some of them."

Hinata looked tired.

Shukaku growled. 'Then make her rest. Humans are fragile.'

'She can take care of herself.' Gaara reminded him.

Though Hinata scolded him for his ridiculous work schedule, now hers was getting nearly as bad.

Hinata still got up and made him breakfast every morning, trained by herself, then with his sister, then paperwork, then lunch with him, met as more office work, then went to check on the compound, then would come back to have dinner with him. At that point, she would have sat in his office and read or did light paperwork, but as of late, she would have an extra meeting and more Hyuga paperwork.

Medical records, nin reports, and anything that came through about the Hyuga had to be seen by her first and then could be handled by someone else only if it had nothing to do with clan secrets. The council was bitter and marked every single thing as top priority and top secret.

She still wouldn't tell him what it was that was bothering her, yet it was still something that was bothering her.

Hinata sat, crossing her ankles under the chair, and briefed him on minor developments before standing back up and squeaking. "Shukaku-san, please let go. You almost tripped me." Hinata sat back down and scolded.

Shukaku used his distraction to wrap around her ankles. Gaara fought against Shukaku to pull the sand away from her as gently as possible.

"What's going on with him," Hinata watched the struggle.

Gaara knew his face darkened as Shukaku fought harder.

Hinata patted her lap. Shukaku obeyed, curling up in her lap. "What is going on with you two? You're fighting."

Shukaku taunted him about winning the battle. "It's nothing important when I think it is. I will bother you with it."

Hinata blinked her eyes wider than usual before her face twisted down into a pained frown. "I… okay." She whispered. "Excuse me then."

Gaara was confused. He only repeated what she said to him the night before.

Shukaku tried to keep her in the seat by applying pressure to her legs.

Hinata merely whispered out. "Let me up, please." And his sand face frowned and disintegrated. She left the room, leaving the paperwork she came in with.

'You are an idiot.' Shukaku growled. 'If she starts crying, you're not sleeping for a week.'

'I haven't done anything.' Hinata said the same thing not twenty-four hours ago when she thought something wasn't in need of being addressed. He didn't know what he did differently that made her react so violently.

Did she think he was angry with her when he was angry with Shukaku? Was it because he was glaring? Hinata was used to his arguing with Shukaku with her there. It has never been something she couldn't discern before.

He had no clue what he did wrong.

Hinata closed her office door and leaned against it. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to calm the rush of hurt that washed over her.

He didn't mean it the way she took it. Gaara was never so brutal with her. Blunt, yes, but never purposely hurtful. He didn't seem to mind when she told him that she didn't want to talk to him about yesterday, so there was no reason to maliciously throw her words back at her.

What hurt the most was not knowing why he was blocking her out of the relationship between him and Shukaku. Gaara always mindlessly told her what Shukaku was telling him, good, bad, and terrifying. Unless he deemed what he was saying to be inappropriate for the setting, when she asked, he told. He never shut her out when Shukaku wanted her to know something.

Hinata plopped down in her chair and held back a hiccuped sob. She needed to stop. It was his right to keep what was being said in his head. Maybe she was misreading him.

Her head was starting to hurt.

Gaara pondered on it all day. Hinata didn't look at all like herself. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She replied in short answers in a lower voice than usual. It was… painful to watch? He didn't understand the emotional response he was having to her acting upset. He wasn't sure he knew any of what was going on.

Gaara saw many of her emotions since the day they met, and she still surprised him with new ones that were only mild, similar to others. Was she sad and nervous? Was this a new kind of embarrassment?

Shukaku was no help. He would re-inform him that he made a mistake but refused to tell him what that mistake was.

During their last meeting, Gaara made sure he caught her before she stood up and left. "Will you be staying here for the evening?"

Hinata tensed. "I will have to check what it is I have left."

Temari stopped before she fully left the room, catching her behavior as well and connecting her eyes with him. "Hinata, one more thing. I'll meet you in your office."

Hinata nodded.

Gaara hoped he could trust his sister in this.

"Are you and Gaara fighting?" Temari shut the door.

It wasn't something Hinata wanted to talk about. She was stressed about it enough without getting anyone else involved. "I don't think you could quite call it that."

"You didn't look at him once that whole meeting, even when he deliberately tried talking to you." Temari pressed.

"It's not a fight, I promise. It won't affect work." Hinata fiddled with her fingers.

"No. What is going on? I don't care about work. I care that Gaara looks worried he's done something wrong." Temari pressed.

Hinata shrank into her chair and pulled up her knees, burying her nose there. "It's my fault."

"I'm listening." Temari sat in the chair across from her.

"It's really not common to share this type of thing," Hinata explained. "It's a husband, wife thing…."

"Is my little brother that bad at sex?" Temari prompted with a raised eyebrow.

Hinata turned red and squeaked. "It's not that! We didn't…" She buried her face further into her knees. She couldn't talk about this. She wouldn't. She was already mortified with everyone insisting she would be a good parent. She didn't want to talk about how you become one.

Temari's eyes widened, her mouth following. "Oh my… you haven't!"

"I promise that isn't the problem!" Hinata squeaked. "He wasn't ready. It's okay. I'm not concerned with that!"

"Wait." Temari waved her hands. "He wasn't ready. It was him?" Hinata wished she could die! Why did she say that!? At this rate, she might faint. "I kinda believe that. I don't think I even saw him look at women as anything more than civilians or nin before you. I can't imagine him being at all experienced." Hinata silently begged her to stop. "So, you're not 'sleeping together,' and that's fine, but if that's not the issue, what is?"

"It's just that recently everyone was talking about children." Temari's eyes filled with understanding. "I know it's expected of us, and I know what would have to happen for us to get to that, but we haven't talked about either. I've just been too concerned with other things and want to push it off, and he doesn't need to be bothered with things like that until it needs to be brought up." Hinata took a breath. "He thought something was on my mind, and I told him I didn't want to bother him with it, and he seemed fine with that, and … and…" She felt like she was completely rambling at this point. "Today, he and Shukaku were fighting about me, but when I asked, he threw back what I said and… I just…" It all sounded so stupid.

Temari smiled. "You two are so adorable."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"I think you just need to go talk to him and tell him what you just told me. I think you're going to be fine." Temari's amusement wasn't helping her nerves.

Temari peaked her head in her brother's office. "Give her a hug."

"What?" Gaara asked in confusion.

"A hug. That's it. She's got a lot on her mind. Just give her a hug." Temari waved before leaving the room.

"What?" Gaara asked again to a closed door.