CHAPTER 6

BINDWEEDS: bonds

I felt pressure on my stomach. I heard my husband snoring. He sounded closer than ever before. For the first time in all the weeks we had been married, I fully woke up before him, only to find his hand on my stomach.

I panicked, and panicked more when I realised panicking could plausibly wake him up. Then I realised the pressure on my lower stomach was not only external but internal too. I needed to pee.

Slowly, carefully, I lifted my hand to hold his and felt it shaking. I fisted my hand back. I was still wearing the blue dress from last night. Relieved at that, I turned my head to finally look at him. He was sleeping exactly as he always did – on his stomach, facing me, wearing his ratty shirt and pants. He was closer to me because I was not lying on the extreme edge of the bed like I always did. It felt nice, warm.

I tried removing his hand again as carefully as I dared. Then I darted into the bathroom quickly. Once I relieved myself, I moved to go back but stopped with my hand inches from the door, debating what I should do. I did not remember anything from last night after having two more glasses of ale with Prince Sasuke and Princess Sakura and dancing quite a lot. The evidence was there in the slight throbbing in my calves, and thighs, and in my temples.

And for all the useless panicking I did after waking up, I remembered that I used to wake up quite a few times every night when I first started sharing a bed with my husband – due to his snoring. And not once had I seen him laying closer than two feet from me. For a man who complimented my beauty every chance he got, he sure did not make any moves for it like men are known to do.

Not that I would want him to; I was quite content with him keeping his distance. Most of the time, anyway, I blushed when I remembered our dance at the coronation ceremony. I had a feeling something similar might have happened at the after party that I could not seem to remember.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and knew I needed to bathe and get ready. It was certainly hot enough here that I could prepare a bath by myself, without Shizune or Akira, but I did not have a change of clothes. And I did not have the courage to go back into the room and look at my husband's innocent, sleeping face knowing he could wake up anytime now.

I need not have bothered.

A knock sounded at the door and I jumped. "Hinata? You in there?"

Of course, it was the Emperor. My gaze travelled to the high windows and I saw that it was around sunrise. I cleared my throat. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Are you… can I come in, Hinata?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

The door opened and I watched him enter quietly. He looked at me once – all of me – then averted his gaze. "I didn't disturb you, did I?"

"Not at all, Your Majesty."

His lips flattened and he looked at me again before coming in front of me in just four strides. With him so close to me in just loose white clothes, I saw a corded leather necklace on his neck for the first time, its charm disappearing under his shirt. And he had some facial hair that I supposed he shaved off every morning. He looked nice in early mornings, too.

"Do you know why I always ask you things and not just go ahead and do them?" I watched his throat move as he spoke. I really enjoyed watching his neck, and it had nothing to do with it being in my line of sight.

I shook my head to answer his question, because I knew my voice would not come out dignified at that moment.

"I do it because I really do care about your opinions and wishes, Hinata. I know you try to give me the answer you think I want to hear, but I want to hear what you want. If you want to disagree with me, refuse me, or even want me to do something, just say it. I promise I won't get angry. Or however you think I'll react."

I did not respond.

"Please, Hinata. We are going to spend our whole lives with each other. If you keep trying to do what I want you to do, you will be miserable. And miserable is the last thing I wanted you to be when I married you. So, answer me however you want to. I will respect your wishes."

My throat tightened and I could feel an itch at the back of my throat. I nodded, feeling overwhelmed.

"Now, tell me, can I hold your hands?"

I started to nod on instinct, then stopped to think. I really did not mind him holding hands with me. I whispered with a thick voice, "Yes."

He took my hands and squeezed them. I was getting used to his large, warm hands engulfing mine. Then he spoke again, "Can I kiss you?"

I immediately flushed and looked up at him with wide eyes. He laughed out loudly. "You don't have to look so horrified, Hinata. I was just kidding."

"I- I wasn't horrified," I squeaked out, feeling my cheeks heat even more.

He continued laughing and bent down to place a kiss on my knuckles. "You can take the bathroom if you want, I'll be back later."

He backed away and towards the door. Just as he was about to step out, I called out, "Your Majesty."

He turned, "Yes, Hinata?"

"Can you… will you please have someone call for Shizune or Akira?"

He grinned and saluted to me, "Sure, My Empress."

…

Breakfast with Prince Sasuke and Princess Sakura started happy and loud, but then the Emperor asked, "So, what is it you want to tell me, Sasuke?"

Both the prince and the princess fell quiet. I saw the prince eye me as he replied, "You want to know now?"

"Yes. Tell me."

Prince Sasuke sighed and leaned back on his chair. He took a moment before speaking, "The situation is not good, Naruto. Itachi never leaves the palace anymore. There is almost no one left who we can trust."

My husband pursed his lips. "Is that why he didn't come yesterday?"

"Yes. He is getting increasingly paranoid. He does not want to let anyone out of his sight. Leaving the kingdom was a risk he did not want to take, especially since he knew you would not take offence."

My husband nodded in agreement. "He did the right thing. Keep us updated and tell us whenever you need anything."

Prince Sasuke nodded back, "We will."

I sat still, wondering what situation they were talking about. Princess Sakura obviously knew. I wanted to ask, but I did not feel right to ask the Emperor there, especially when Prince Sasuke clearly did not want me to know. I resolved to ask my husband later when we retire for night.

As soon as we all finished having breakfast, Princess Sakura whisked me away. She was a bundle of too much energy and excitement and I had no idea how to handle it.

She fired questions after questions at me and I obediently answered each one. They were about anything she could think of – so, your father is the Hyuga king? Do you have siblings? How many? Are you close to them? Do you miss them? How is it like in the Hyuga family? Are there little kids? Do you like kids? – and I told her every superficial detail she wanted. Thankfully, she kept her questions from getting too personal or invasive. For an instance, I knew she wanted to ask me why no one from Hyuga came to the coronation ceremony, but she did not.

"So, what's the story? How did you two get married? Men don't share these things and neither of them would give me the details."

"There is no story there. The usual way, I guess? He sent a proposal to Father and I accepted?"

Sakura – as she had demanded I call her – stopped. "He didn't."

"Pardon?" I asked, confused by her reaction.

"That bum didn't come himself to ask for your hand? He didn't even court you?" Sakura's voice raised with each word.

"Uh, no? The first time I saw His Majesty was at the day of our wedding." I made a face, unable to understand her.

"And you didn't care? Why? Hinata! Didn't you dream of dallying with a young man, falling for his charms and marrying him?"

I felt myself flush. I would not word it like that but, "I did, yes. But what does it matter?"

"What does it matter?" Sakura groaned. "Naruto brought you like you were a piece of land! Aren't you offended?"

"I mean," I answered timidly, "it is not like I was going to marry someone of my choice anyway."

She quieted a bit at that. "Why would you say that?"

"The royal family does not marry for love, Sakura. They do it for alliances." I explained like it was an obvious fact, which it was.

"Oh. You have it like that too, then."

"What do you mean?"

"It happens in Uchiha Kingdom, too. If you are royal, you are expected to marry someone who would bring political advantages to the kingdom. I was the daughter of a noble and even then, they wouldn't let Sasuke marry me. I thought it was the worst in Uchiha Kingdom."

"Oh," I said eloquently. "Then how did you two ended up married?"

Sakura smirked. "We ran away."

I could not help it. I laughed. And she joined me.

"So, this is not the case with every kingdom?" I asked after we stopped. I made no pretentions to have any knowledge about any kingdom except Hyuga to her, and she gladly educated me in everything she knew.

"Not usually. I mean they wouldn't say no if it does happen but it isn't a big deal if a royal doesn't marry for politics or wealth. Unless he is the crown prince. Usually," she told me, then snorted, "It definitely doesn't happen in Uzumaki Kingdom. Where do you think we ran off to?"

I smiled.

"And we are not finished yet. Tell me, how did you react to the proposal? Had you really wanted to be married to him?"

I almost flushed at that more than I did when my husband had asked if he could kiss me that morning. "I… refused."

"What was that, Hinata? Louder, please."

"I said that I refused."

Sakura laughed. "Good. Does he know?"

I caught myself shrugging and mentally wondered where my manners were off to. "I think so? Maybe? I never told him myself, but he is astute enough."

She skipped ahead so could walk backwards while facing me before she asked her next question. "And what have you two done till now?"

I blanked, "Uh, what?"

"Oh, you know, the things that husbands and wives do? I know you wouldn't have gone all the way since our very noble Emperor Naruto hadn't courted you before, but surely, he'd have coerced you to do something?" Sakura said all that in a single breath, and without the slightest trace of embarrassment.

I, on the other hand, was getting more embarrassed with her every other question – and vaguely offended at this particular one.

"He has coerced me to do anything. He has been perfectly respectful the whole time." I realised after I spoke that I was defending him.

"Obviously. There aren't many men more respectful than him. But there aren't many men more lustful than him either. I swear he was a different person before he became the Emperor and got all those responsibilities."

I was getting faint with all the blood leaving my brain as she kept using more and more unfiltered words. But I was also very curious about my husband's past. "What kind of person was he?"

Sakura laughed at whatever face I was making and patted my cheek, "You poor, poor girl. You have no idea what a beast you just married."

"How would you know that?"

She elaborated, "I had known Sasuke since before The Wars, and Naruto since he was about nine years old. He was a troublemaking brat back then, always being a pain to everyone. Though I suppose he was justified in his own right. I met Sasuke through him." Sakura smiled then, "He hated me back then – I was a bit clingy. Then they grew into that age and you should have seen them being so pathetically needy and pretending that were not, you know what I mean." I did not know what she meant, but she kept speaking, "Then The Wars broke out again – actually it happened the year before that but we were just kids and didn't care much about it until the previous king died. Sasuke went back to Uchiha, and Naruto went straight to the army and at the front lines in less than a year."

She fell quiet for a moment, looking up at the sky. "He used to be so annoying. He wanted to do nothing but cause trouble and pull pranks and challenge older kids. But then when he used to come back from the frontlines, he was so different. Quieter, sometimes angrier. He did not spend much time with me or Sasuke – not that Sasuke left his kingdom much after that. All he did was drink and train and… you know," she sent me a grimace, "take girls home. Sometimes he was back to how he used to be, but it was rare.

"Slowly, as the years went on, he became used to it and stopped all his antics. He was back to the annoying pervert he was before, but calmer. I think it was that calm that helped him end The Wars."

She released a heavy breath. "It was tough, watching him go through it all alone. But that is how he is. He prefers to sort through his issues alone. And he comes back to himself, always. Maybe a bit changed but himself nonetheless."

I kept her words to my heart. It was the first insight I ever got into who my husband actually was, and I hungered for more. "Did he have a lot of issues?"

Sakura nodded. "He still does. But he has learned to manage them."

"What kind of issues?" I asked. The more she told me, the greedier I became.

Sakura stepped closer to me and linked her arm through mine. I leaned my head away so that my sun hat would not bump into her head. "I am sorry, Hinata. I can't tell you that. He will tell you himself, and you will understand then."

I swallowed my disappointment as I nodded. She did have a point.

She snatched her hand away and skipped ahead of me with a shudder. "Ugh, that is enough good things I said about that idiot. Let us go back to his perverseness. Complimenting Naruto always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Don't tell him I told you he's a nice guy, even though he is."

I smiled. "Why?"

She waved her hands in front of her. "Just don't. He'll never let me forget."

I laughed. "Alright, I will not tell him you told me he is a good man."

"Oh, but you can tell him I told you this: he is a huge pervert and he better not coerce you and have his way with you."

I blushed, again. "He will not do that."

Sakura laughed.

…

When I went to bed that night, I did not scoot to the extreme side of it. The Emperor did not give me the reprieve from his gaze like usual either. He lazily watched me get ready for bed as he laid on his back.

Before the silence between us became uncomfortable, he spoke, "How did you get on with Sakura today? Hate her yet?"

I turned my head to look at him, mildly shocked by his words. He had shifted to lay on his side and was half-grinning to show that he was jesting.

There was something in his casual demeanour that did not let me keep my words humbly agreeable. "Why ever would I hate her?"

"Well, she talks too much, for one thing. And she is very nosy. And very violent. And usually mean."

Despite his words, there was nothing but adoration in his eyes for his childhood friend. I understood then why Sakura did not want him to know how highly she thought of him.

I smiled. "Funny thing. She said something similar about you as well."

His grin became wider, "What did she say?"

I was not sure I should tell him how she described his younger years to me. "A lot of things, Your Majesty."

"Tell me any one of them."

I racked my brain for something I could safely tell him. "You used to be a troublemaker back in your childhood days."

When I calmed enough to look at him again, he nodded, "That I was, my dear. And if you ask Kakashi-sensei, he would say I still am."

"And why is that?"

"He thinks I am unorganised, for starters," he rolled his eyes as he said that, as if the mere thought was unimaginable.

I chuckled and he raised his brows. "What? You don't think I am organised?"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, you are not the most organised person in the empire."

"I prefer to think of it as no one understanding my level of organisation."

I thought his level of organisation was so bad that really no one could understand it, but what would I know?

Then I remembered the conversation at the breakfast. "Your Majesty?"

"Yes, Hinata?" he answered in a lazy, thick voice. I loved hearing him say my name. I loved it even more at nights when he was about to sleep.

I hesitated. He sounded sleepy and I did not want to ruin his sleep.

"What is it, Hinata? Say it," he encouraged me, sounding awake now.

"This morning… at the breakfast. What situation was Prince Sasuke talking about?"

When he did not answer immediately, I rushed to say, "Of course, if it is not my business, you just have so say. I will not ask such questions again, Your Majesty."

"Hinata, don't speak like that," he scolded. "This kingdom and this empire are all your business if you want it to be. You have every right to ask me every kind of questions."

I did not know what to say to that.

"Understood?" he demanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Then he answered my question. "Sasuke was talking about Uchiha. Itachi thinks they are going to revolt. Things has been tensed for a few years now."

"They are planning to betray you?" I gasped.

"Itachi thinks so. And, well, honestly, I won't be surprised if they do. I can't say I did not see it coming."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "They were never happy about the fact that I became the . I may have some royal blood but I was never a royal."

"But you ended The Wars. Who else could have been the emperor?"

"Someone political, they say. Someone Uchiha, they mean."

As a Hyuga, I had opinions about the Uchiha. Our kingdoms had never been friends and I doubted we would ever be. I did not know why but our kingdoms, or at least the royal families, have always hated each other.

I tried not to say the bad things about them that other Hyugas used to say at the meetings. Instead, I asked something logical, "Why would King Itachi tell you about that?"

"What do you mean?" My husband asked, confusion all over his tone.

"I mean, they are his family. If they are betraying you, then King Itachi is betraying his own family for you."

"He does not look at it like that. His duty is to his people, not the other royal family members."

"But, Your Majesty, can this be a trap? King Itachi and Prince Sasuke are both still Uchihas." I did not like Uchihas either, and it was hard to hide my dislike of them. They had never once been accommodating to the Hyuga Kingdom in all of history.

"No, Hinata. Itachi and Sasuke are loyal to me. And to their people."

"But…" I fell silent. I did not have an actual logical argument against them. There was only the instinctual dislike that was drilled into us all our lives.

"I trust them, Hinata. The whole Uchiha clan can be against be but they both will be on my side, whatever happens." He spoke softly, but left no room for a debate. One of his fingers traced my knuckles as he spoke, making goosebumps erupt over my arms.

"How are you so sure?" I asked just as softly.

"We are brothers, Hinata. Not brothers of blood, but still brothers. I will always have their backs, and they will have mine."

I did not argue then, choosing to believe in his words. His fingers played with mine as we laid facing each other, both of us pretending not to notice it.

Surprising both of us, I broke the heavy but comfortable silence, "Where do you train in the morning?"

He blinked before he answered, caught unaware by the question. It was rare that I could catch him unaware anytime, so it made me feel strangely accomplished. Though I felt a pang of regret when he snatched his hand away.

"There are training grounds on the other side from the ball room. All the soldiers on duty inside the estate train there."

"Oh." I remembered when he would come to the ball room to practice the first dance with me, he usually came from the opposite direction. From the training grounds, most probably. And Shizune had also pointed out the pathway to training grounds on my first day in the estate.

I wanted to watch him train. I wanted to watch him interact with people that were not General Kakashi, or Prince Sasuke, or Princess Sakura. I wanted to help him with his work. I wanted to train myself. And I wanted to be able to say all of this to him, because I knew he would listen.

"You can come with me to the training grounds tomorrow, if you want to," he offered after a moment. I did not know how, or why, but somehow, he almost always knew what I was thinking. And I could not decide how I felt about that.

"I would like that very much, Your Majesty," I tried to smile, but I was still thinking about how he knew my every thought.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

…

I woke up when I felt my shoulders being shook, and by who other than my husband?

"Hey, Hinata?"

I must have hummed, because he continued, "You wanted to go to training with me?"

I slowly opened my eyes, squinting and blinking until my vision cleared. He was in a similar position like last time he woke me up – sitting on his side of the bed with his hand on my shoulder.

"What?" I mumbled.

"You wanted to accompany me to my training, remember?" he smiled, as usual.

"Oh. Oh, yes, I remember," I woke up more as it all came back, and I remembered my manners, "Your Majesty."

I sat up, and he leaned back to give me some space.

"So? Are you coming?"

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty."

"Alright, I'll be waiting in my study."

He stood up to leave, and I followed him, planning to call for Shizune once he left. He stopped at the door and turned back, "Oh, and you can go take a bath. I'll call for Shizune."

I blinked in surprise, and by the time I said 'thank you' he was already out of the door.

…

The training grounds were very aptly named, for they were just a collection of large grounds separated by thin walkways, most of which were not even covered with a proper ceiling, just shaded with large pieces of cotton in various stages of raggedness. A few weapons were placed there and the water was kept in clay pots to keep it cool.

Prince Sasuke and Princess Sakura were already at the training grounds, conversing on the periphery as soldiers did their drills in neat rows and columns on the grounds farther from us.

I hung out at the back as my husband went to greet his friends, slapping the Prince on the back and ruffling Sakura's hair. They talked and Sakura beckoned me to join them, but I just smiled and shook my head. Watching them was much simpler than actually interacting with them with their inside jokes and years of familiarity.

The Emperor and the Prince went to warm up, and Sakura came up to me. She chatted as she usually did – fast and loud and carefree. And I watched my husband in his habitat.

It was clear from the relaxation and exuberance in his whole body, how much he loved this – being a soldier. The man I was seeing was very much different from the man I had spent my past weeks with. He was so unburdened at that moment, so spirited, that my heart pained for the Emperor he had to become.

They talked with a couple of soldiers, and I recognised General Kakashi among them. I could faintly hear the heavy timbre of my husband's voice.

The soldier with General Kakashi was wearing an all-green bodysuit, and his black hair and white teeth shined even from a distance. Almost lazily, they slipped somewhere near the middle of the ground and took their positions. They gave the spar sign, and then the Emperor attacked.

And I could not follow. They were only doing hand combat, no weapons with either of them, and I still could not follow their fight with the swiftness they had. I was tempted to activate my Byakugan, but I forced myself to focus, rather than take the easy way.

It was almost a minute later that I was able to somewhat make out their moves and another minute after which I realised that my husband was attacking the soldier relentlessly, and each one of them were being blocked. The only one getting any hits in was the soldier. As few times as it was, he was still getting past the Emperor's defences every now and then.

I watched them dance their fast moves for nearly twenty minutes when the Emperor finally surrendered and they stopped with all their love and respect for each other intact.

They laughed and clapped each other on the backs as they went to the shaded walkways to relax. Then I saw that all this time Prince Sasuke had also been sparring with a soldier, though much more leisurely. I had not noticed him before. I had also not noticed when Sakura went silent beside me.

My husband came up to me and offered me a glass of water. He was grinning widely and sweating. "So, what do you think?"

I think you should be more offended that a soldier beat you in combat.

"Who was he?" I jerked my head at the soldier, still too far away for me to see his face.

"That is one of my best Captains. He is the greatest master of hand-to-hand combat you'll ever meet." His voice as he answered held plentiful reverence for the man. I completely believed him after seeing that display of combat.

I nodded, "That was intense."

He chuckled. "That is the only way it is with him."

I eyed his damp shirt and asked, "Are you going to shower first, or have breakfast?"

And then I realised that I sounded nagging, so I added, "Your Majesty."

He pointed to a small building which the corridors of the training grounds were connected to. "We wash up over there. I'll be right back and then we can have breakfast."

"Alright," I said, but he was already walking away. I wondered if there was ever a moment that he actually felt drained, or even a bit tired.

…

That night the Emperor waited for me again until I was lying beside him, and he told me the stories of himself and Sakura and Prince Sasuke when they were all just children and why General Kakashi thought that he was a troublemaker until I fell asleep to his voice.