Hinata sat on the side of the tub, ringing out her hair. The soak hadn't helped her stress at all. She was so encased in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open or her husband stepped in until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Hinata whipped around, slashing him in the face with her hair. Gaara stiffened as he found himself soaked. "Gaara!" She squeaked. "I'm sorry!" She snatched towels, handed him one, and tried to cover herself. He was her husband, but she didn't need to be just naked in front of him.

"I apologize. Coming in without speaking was not a good idea." Gaara wiped his face clean.

"Is there something you need?" Hinata tied her hair up in another towel, being more careful not to flick him with it.

"I will wait for you to be done." Gaara walked back out of the bathroom.

What he was thinking? Whatever it was important enough to come in while she bathed. He didn't usually interrupt unless he required something from the cabinet, and even then, he knocked.

Gaara seemed out of it. She hoped he wasn't sick.

Shukaku laughed at him. Gaara didn't find this situation funny. He was annoyed with his line of thinking and was more annoyed the beast hadn't stopped him when he realized it wasn't a good idea. He hadn't meant to sneak up on her. He was getting impatient and meant to catch her when she already had a towel on. He heard the water empty, and he thought she would have been out. He was unaware of the extra step of draining her hair.

Gaara rubbed his temples, leaning over his knees from the edge of the bed, trying to clear his head of any other dumb idea when his wife came out, eyeing him cautiously. Not how he was usually eyed, like he might kill her, more like he might just fall over, and she would need to catch him.

Hinata put on her long light wrap and braided back her hair as usual, not a much less risk of hitting him in the face. "Are you alright? Do you have a migraine?"

"Yes." Gaara paused. "No, I don't have a migraine, and I apologize."

"Was there something you needed? I could have hurried if you asked. I didn't mean to take so long." Hinata's hands started to fidget with the sleeves. She was nervous again. He was only making all of this worse. He should just do what he was told.

Gaara crossed the room and hugged her. Hinata softened around him, accepting the affection without question, bringing her arms up to light cover his back. "Gaara, are you sure you are okay? You're acting strangely."

"This is supposed to stop you from acting strange," Gaara admitted.

Hinata paused. Gaara was unsure how she was reacting until she started to giggle. Was that supposed to happen? Did it work? He was confused. "Who told you that?" Hinata lifted her head back to smile at him.

"Temari."

"Did she say anything else?" Hinata's face lost its smile.

"That you had a lot on your mind and required a hug." Did Hinata think Temari would tell him something she didn't want her to? He wouldn't have wanted to hear it from her.

"Oh." Hinata laid her forehead on his shoulder.

"Is there something I have done that has caused your sudden distance?" Gaara asked bluntly.

Hinata smiled and held on tighter. He really couldn't be subtle. "I think we need to talk about something."

Gaara released her and traveled back to sit on the bed. Hinata slid the braid over her shoulder, so she would have something to fidget with because she was sure this would get uncomfortable.

"It's nothing horrible… Well, it might be, depending on how you look at it. It's just that…" Hinata sat with a huff and was surprised that no ball of sand immediately claimed her lap. Did Shukaku know what was going on?

"Does this have to do with the clan?" Gaara wondered impatiently.

"Well, no … I guess it could, but it wasn't something I was going to mention." Hinata was even confusing herself.

"Hinata," Gaara was getting annoyed with her lack of put-together.

"People have begun asking about us having children." That was not the best way to put it, she lacked a lot of information, but at least it was out there.

Gaara stared at her, and she shrank as he put it together in his head.

Whatever he thought the issue was, it certainly wasn't that. So Gaara posed the first question that came to mind. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them we hadn't talked about it," Hinata explained. "I mean, I know Kage's are expected to have an heir even though it may not become the next Kage, and bloodlines are not as important in Suna, but the council wants you would continue your line."

"They have mentioned it." Gaara wasn't going to procreate just because they wanted him to.

"It is embarrassing to speak about it with others, especially since I can't speak for your opinion," Hinata's shoulders drooped.

"I had no plans to continue my line," Gaara never thought about the possibility of having children, but he never entertained the idea of getting married either. Hinata's face was unreadable, at least to him. She searched his face for further information, but honestly, he didn't have much more of an answer. "Hinata, I have never given it thought," Gaara explained.

Hinata closed her eyes and nodded, but was she upset or relieved?

Had she thought about it? He knew women were more likely to think about children for their future since they were the ones affected the most by bearing them. He was also aware of the procreation instinct. The only time he remembered them speaking of children, she feared being a broodmare for the Hyuga or the highest bidder, but that was before they married.

Did she want to be a parent?

Gaara suddenly was washed over with a heavy panic he wasn't prepared for. His father was a cruel bastard that tried to have him killed. What would Gaara be like? He wasn't a kind man. He wasn't good with children. Few children ever approached him. What if his own children were scared of him, even with the DNA of the only person to look at him before his beast?

'You humans overthink everything.' Gaara could feel Shukaku roll his eyes. 'There is an issue before the child is barred.'

"Gaara, are you okay," Hinata reached for him. Gaara realized his panic froze on his face. "What is it?"

"I don't think I would be a suitable parent." Gaara watched the worry in her eyes turn to amusement. "I do not believe I should be trusted with children."

Hinata covered her smile with the tip of her fingers. "That's what you're worried about? Gaara, I would trust you completely with your own children." Gaara frowned at her. "Shukaku-san would never let you."

'Not if they were also hers.' Shukaku mused. 'Still not the issue.'

Gaara ruffled his hair. He wasn't sure about this. It may take more thought, maybe a debate of the situation. He had never been posed with things like this before. He would have never thought of it if he hadn't married. He hadn't so much as touched a woman gently before her.

Gaara paused. He may have figured out what the issue was. Dread washed over him as he realized he shouldn't have asked. Her face changed as he did, from a smile back to a red bundle of nerves.

"We don't have to have any of our own," Hinata stood up too stiffly, walking over to her dresser. "We don't have to decide now. We are still rather young… and not something we need to put in stone now." She opened a drawer and started rifling through. When she needed to fidget, she would find anything to keep her hands busy, even if it didn't make any sense.

This was failing as a husband.

Gaara was heavily attracted to her. That wasn't the issue. He wasn't a gentle man. He couldn't forgive himself if he hurt himself in something he knew was supposed to be intimate. Shukaku berated him for his cowardice, but he was too terrified of causing her pain.

"It's okay," Hinata's hands slowed as her flight reflex wore off. "We've talked about it now. It's fine. I have your answer if anyone asks. We aren't currently planning any."

Gaara crossed the room, laying a warning hand on her back before curling around her. He didn't want to be whipped in the face again. He lowered his face into her shoulder and let out a heavy sigh. He was hurting her this way too.

"Really, Gaara, I'm not worried. I think I was just too caught up in what everyone was asking. I panicked. I wasn't sure how you would react." Hinata laid her hand over his under her bust. "I don't want to rush anything. I want you to be comfortable."

Gaara growled at himself, earning him a palm cupping his head.

Hinata pulled him closer, placing her lips on his temple. "If we want children, we can adopt."

Gaara was sure she was just backtracking. "I am not a kind man."

"I don't think that wouldn't mean you would be a bad father," Hinata assured him.

Gaara tightened his grip, his father flashed in his mind again, and he was jerked out of the idea.

Somehow knowing what he was thinking, whether by his reaction or she was just that good at reading him, she turned in his arm and made him look at her. "You are not your father, no more than I am mine."

Something to ponder another time. Now he was starting to get a headache. "I think it is time for bed." Gaara pressed his lips to her shoulder.