How did she sleep so much?

Hinata tucked her head almost entirely under the covers despite the dome of frictioning sand that was over the both of them. What could he describe her sleeping as? He didn't have a word for it.

'The word you want is cute.' Shukaku answered.

Cute? Maybe.

She hadn't returned to her room since she moved the futon out, and neither had he. He slept here bedside her bed despite her confusion as to why he didn't want a mat, too. He had never used one. He didn't understand why he would change that now.

Gaara reached out to touch the hem of her blanket. It did seem soft.

Hinata sighed, looking out the glass walls of the greenhouse. She never thought she would be happy to see the blistering sun beating down on the sand, but after being trapped inside for the week, it was the best sight.

Gaara kneeled to one of his pots with his sand hovering over his head. Hinata crouched beside him to watch, and the sand expanded over her. She smiled at the tiny pots that he carefully cared for. He was incredibly gentle with each petal.

If she ever left here, would anyone believe her if she told them what he was like?

Was he anything more to be scared of than any young nin that had a born power that they hadn't learned to control?

Hinata reached for the edge of his shirt. "You have a tear. What did you get caught on?"

Gaara turned his head, but not enough to see the rip. "I'm not sure." She didn't believe him.

Hinata hummed, tilting her head to the side to focus back in on his little pot. "I can fix it later."

"The red one." Gaara corrected without turning around.

Hinata blinked at the jars she was reaching for. "Thank you, Shukaku-san." She collected the correct jar. "Does he always talk to you?" She opened it and held it out to Gaara.

"When he wants to," Gaara answered, taking the contents.

"You two were left here a long time alone," Hinata wasn't sure what she wanted to say with that statement. It was just something that she thought about from time to time. Trapping him alone with nothing other than the demon everyone feared seemed like a special kind of torture.

"He was insufferable for the first few years." Gaara flinched. "You were." He corrected Shukaku's unheard voice.

Hinata leaned on the counter to watch Gaara work. "I'm glad you have more level ground now."

"We do not agree often." Gaara stirred his pan. "But our disagreements destroy less."

"I guess it's easier to clean up when you can fix everything." Did he have a bed once but destroyed it and then never replaced it? "I was never allowed to destroy things." Though, she was never destructive in her angriest state. She ripped up a love letter once, so upset that she couldn't build up the courage to deliver it.

Self-destructive, maybe. She turned her hand over. Years of pushing past her limits and ignoring the pain that she was inflicting.

Hinata flinched as the spoon was held up to her face. A smile spread across her face. He was copying her. She took a small bite off the end and covered her mouth. "Oh! That's good."

"This is what it's meant to taste like," Gaara explained.

Hinata snorted. She was sure that was not supposed to sound as backhanded as it came out.

Hinata flinched awake and looked up at a blonde mop and a smile. "What are you doing sleeping out here?"

"Termari-chan?" Hinata rubbed her eyes and sat up to find Gaara nowhere to be found. If he was going to run off when his sibling got here, why didn't he wake her up?

"Go wash up. I have a surprise for you." Temari grinned at her.

"I thought it was a mushroom. I was cooking with it." Hinata frowned at Kankuro's tea cup.

"Ugh." Kankuro made a face. "What did it taste like?"

"Bitter," Gaara answered. "Earthy."

Hinata nodded. "I think I am getting better." Gaara nodded to agree.

Kankuro turned to Temari. "Did you give her… ?"

"Oh!" Temari dug in her pack. Holding out a bundle of envelopes. "Apparently, you have been receiving letters from home. They tried to tell us, but they kept missing us. They have been sitting in Suna collecting for the last few months."

Hinata's heart stopped as she accepted the heavy stack. It had crossed her mind, but she didn't think it would cross anyone else's since there was no easy place to send them to make sure she got them.

The table fell silent with her waiting for her reaction. "I… I'll read these later." Hinata forced a smile. "Thank you."

"If you write something back, we can drop it off in Suna. It might take a while for it to get back, though." Kankuro added.

Hinata nodded and stared in her tea.

Gaara side-eyed the letters she tucked into her lap. Each represented a moment someone thought about her enough to write their thoughts down. How many people were trying to keep that connection to her? How many connections had he severed by wanting his own?

"Where do you want the plants?" Temari asked him.

Hinata's head tilted up at him curiously.

"By the back door," Gaara answered. He could show her later.

'Do you think she is going to want to see those plants to remind her of home after she reads those?' Shukaku sneered. 'How long do you think she would be upset if I destroyed them.'

"No." Gaara snapped at him.

"Gaara?" Temari wondered.

Gaara snapped his eyes down on his untouched tea. He didn't want his brother's tea. He got up and removed himself from the table.

"Has he been irritable?" He could hear Temari whisper.

"He's been quite pleasant," Hinata answered. "I think he and Shukaku-san are arguing. I try not to pry."

Gaara closed the door to his empty room. He hadn't closed himself in here for weeks. 'Those letters are going to destroy her. We should destroy them.'

Gaara knew he was right, but he refused. "I am not taking anything else from her."

Gaara curled around himself behind his sand throne for the first time in a long time. It felt worse than usual.