Hinata looked uncomfortable, holding her mid-abdomen with a distressed face, but still, like everything else that he noticed, she said nothing. This was different, though. She wasn't actively hiding this distress. "Are you alright?"

Hinata turned to her cup of tea and took a large drink of the cooling liquid, but her face didn't change from distress. "I think I have heartburn."

Gaara heard of the condition before. However, he never experienced a sensation he would be able to label as 'heartburn.' It did not look pleasant. What he did not understand was the condition was not considered severe, but it caused extreme discomfort. "What is it like?".

Hinata took another drink of her tea. "Uhm, well, it's not your heart really, more just below where your stomach starts. It's caused by your stomach acid in the area at the end of the line that goes to your stomach and irritates it. It's more like medium irritation rather than feeling like it's burning."

Gaara couldn't imagine her explanation, though now that he was fully human with no beast, maybe he would experience it one day.

There are marks forming on his back." Hinata frowned, examining the pale scar-like marks coming from his spine. They made their way over his back as they faded at the tips. They looked like lighting… no, they look more like veins.

"His chakra veins are under extreme distress as we reroute them. It's burning his skin, but he can't feel it. Most of it should fade as the chakra settles. Though the ones at his spine, where the harshest problems were, may stay." Hinata nodded. Scars were a small price to pay for the amount of damage he sustained.

"Do you mind them?" Gaara looked over his shoulder.

"Scars have never bothered me." Hinata lifted her hands to prove her point.

The medic left the room. Hinata laid her hand on his shoulder and leaned her face into his back. He was doing much better now. He was able to sit up after treatment, which was a massive improvement. She hoped it was showing they were no longer as painful or that he was dealing with the pain better. She hoped for the former.

Gaara brought his hand up to rest on hers, leaning his head back to meet hers. She looked at their hands together. She was sure that she noticed it before, but she found it interesting how their hands differed. Her hands were petite and narrow. They appeared soft and fragile but were coarse from years of calluses and use. His hands were larger and more imposing compared to hers. Yet, his hands were soft, only holding callus from his pens.

Hinata felt her heartburn again, making her extremely uncomfortable. She was told that it was a symptom of her pregnancy, so she could only use certain remedies. Would the whole pregnancy be this uncomfortable? Expecting women complained, but her perception of it was that it was an inconvenience. Her discomfort seemed to be persistent and relentless. She hoped that it was just her perception and that there was nothing wrong.

Gaara stretched back. His skin no longer hurt from merely moving today. It was a comfortable relief, but it was going to be short-lived. He was given a break between the work on his back, which was the most painful, and the work on his limbs, which would have to be a lot more intensive. As he understood it when it was explained to him, if it was done improperly, he could lose the function of his digits or limbs entirely if he ever damaged them.

As his pain faded, his mind cleared. He found he could focus on his wife. Hopefully, he could conclude her behavior.

Gaara understood, in part, why Hinata would hide her condition from him. Hinata was told explicitly he was not to have added stress, and he was sure, in general, she did not want to worry him. She was usually open when she did not want to talk about something, even if she just put it off until a better time. This made him think back to before they found out he was injured. He noticed there was something wrong when they were in the bedroom. She made it clear she didn't want to talk about it. That might have been this situation, which was why she hadn't acknowledged it. She had already told him she didn't want to talk about it. She could be waiting for the appropriate time.

Gaara could only come up with two possibilities. His condition or the problem was far more complicated than any others she had brought to him before.

The latter concerned him. There was scarce he feared in his life, but losing her trust was among his worst fears. If there was something he did, and she felt she needed to keep silent about it because she was too kind to bother him while he was sick, he couldn't hope to rectify it. He couldn't apologize for something he didn't know was wrong.

Hinata's comforting hand on his knee calmed his mind. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." Gaara could hope it was not as bad as his fears were telling him if she was still here by his side, even if she wasn't that self-sacrificing.

…Right?

Temari watched her stretch into another pose. "You're still not going back to training?" Temari looked at the odd ways Hinata bent. Temari tilted her head, making a face. "How do you even do that?"

Hinata tried not to laugh at the twisted face of bewilderment. "I'm under doctors' orders not to. I would train in secret if I didn't see them every day.".

Temari shrugged, accepting her dodge. "But really, how do you do that."

Hinata giggled, waving her to come down with her so that she could show her some flexibility stretches.

Hinata smiled from ear to ear. Gaara ate three full servings of dinner before deciding he was done. At this rate, he would hopefully gain back the weight with no trouble. He was going to need it if he was going to go back to training. She, on the other hand, gained more weight despite finding it increasingly harder to eat. She kept her activity low to combat her nausea, keeping her from eating as much as she should.

Hinata was getting to the point where the medic considered having her eat and deal with nausea for a few hours before allowing her to throw up. This way, she was at least digesting something and wasn't sick all day. It was becoming clear that she was not going to have an easy pregnancy.

Gaara was looking better every day. His color, though always pale, was getting back to his skin. He was no longer grimacing all the time. His face stopped hollowing. With the nutrition that the Hyuga was giving him in the dense vitamin full meals, he would soon regain the plushness in his cheeks.

Despite her discomfort, she couldn't be happier. With his health back, the stress would be lifted off of her. Hopefully, it was the only cause of her problematic pregnancy. She was due back to see the medics a week after she and her husband moved back into the Kazekage tower to see if she showed any positive change. If not, they were going to try some methods of boosting her health.

Gaara curled his arms around her shoulders and pressed his face softly into her neck. It felt odd to be back on the office couch, curled up with the blanket. Hinata pushed the paperwork she brought in with them off her lap, wrapped herself around his waist, and leaned on him. "Does it feel good to be home?"

Gaara nodded into her neck. The Suna Hyuga were hospitable to him. However, he did not like the way they kept their home or lived their lives. It was too ritual, too neat, and kept. Hinata was the perfect level of kept. She neatened his papers and always was tidying, but the Hyuga compound felt sterile.

They lived so traditionally that it was uncomfortable to watch, mainly because he did not want to interrupt. The way they served dinner was so formal, even when he couldn't sit up to eat. He understood much better now why Hinata found it uncomfortable to live there and why it was difficult to transition to Suna culture. Though they had their traditions, they were never so formal to make every day like to ritual.

Right here was comfortable. Gaara closed his eyes, taking his wife's warmth. He would be happy if he never had to step foot in the building again.

Hinata frowned in the mirror. There it was. There is no hiding it without her shirt on anymore. The bump was coming in, and despite gaining weight all over, it was a baby bump. She was glad that her usual outfit had a sash around the middle. It hid the effects of the bump. The scarf did well to hide her chest growth, but soon there wouldn't be much in the way of denying it. It would be suspicious if she suddenly changed her clothing choices. Gaara was already curious why she started wearing sweaters to bed, though he never mentioned her weight gain to her. If he felt the bump, he hadn't said anything.

Hinata would have to tell him soon, but her trips to the medic were becoming concerning. The pregnancy was not progressing to its fullest. She was worried that if she told him, and he started to like the idea, and then they lost the child, she would break his heart, and he would blame himself in some way.

Hinata would keep her secret for a little longer and then ask the medics if it was safe to tell him.

The medic frowned. Hinata closed her eyes, waiting for her answer with a heavy heart. "Thirty to forty percent."

Hinata felt the wave of sickness.

"I'm sorry, I can't give you anything higher than that at fourteen weeks. You shouldn't still be struggling to eat. You should be thriving and eating everything you can. You shouldn't be in as much pain. Your hormones are all over the place, and we can't keep them in the right range. We can't pin down what is wrong, but you may be completely fine. Some women have horrible pregnancies and fine birth. Some have a comfortable pregnancy and then a terrible birth." She explained with an apologetic look.

"Alright. Thank you for your honesty." Hinata bowed her head, conflicted.

What did she do?

"I wish I could be more helpful." The medic expressed.

"There is nothing more that you could do. Please don't be upset." Hinata assured.