A/N;

- something to throw you off kilter. i just had to get it out of my system!

- yeah. fml.

Residuum

The scars of yesterday diminish into nothing but remnants of the past with time. They are nothing but residues of our tarnished past.

Drowning. I've come to the realization that I am drowning.

But what am I drowning in?

Pools of aquamarine gazed into the milky white across him. Penetrating. Captivating. Searching. Searching for something unknown. What is this emotion?

Neither knew how they came into such a precarious position. Clothed in nothing but undergarments, both persons a stark contrast to each other. Faces flushed with such carnal desire for each other, hands intertwined, breaths released in ragged gasps. They both didn't care either way. What mattered was now. What was to come next?

Arranged marriages often ended in resentment, fear, and/or utter disgust towards both parties. The lucky ones end up with an amicably content arrangement. Content with the way things are. Resigned to their cruel, cruel fate. The even luckier ones, one in a gazillion, find love in a complicated setting such as arranged marriages. A setting so far out of their grasp. But then again, when was life a matter of control? Nobody could control circumstance. Nobody could grasp the reins of life and steer its course.

"Why do you hide your beauty?" The auburn-haired man managed to exhale as he caressed her cheek down to her collarbone.

She suppressed a shiver at his ministrations. "W-what do you mean, G-Gaara-sama?" she barely managed to contain a gasp of delight as he latched on to her neck. Biting. Licking. Soothing. A switch within her was flicked on.

"Don't call me that. We're married now, Hinata." he said letting his lips drift further, letting it rest on her clavicle.

"Alright then... Gaara," she let it roll off her tongue. It sounded right. She didn't feel nervous anymore. This felt right. Adding a "What do you mean?" while simultaneously giving him a sultry smile that was so un-Hinata.

"Why must you hide yourself beneath such... bulky clothing?" he inquired as he looked up at her with a somewhat mischievious and amused glint in his sea green eyes.

Surprised by his bluntness she managed to say, "I-I-I... I don't know. I feel uncomfortable with my body, I guess?" She softly murmured while subconsciously touching an old battle scar on her chest.

This scar was such a significant memento. It was a scar she received from Neji back at the chuunin exams. Gentle fist my ass.

Looking back to it now, she realized it was nothing. Nothing but an old scar that reminded her of her painful past. How she wished it could just vanish into thin air. She was terribly ashamed of her body. Scarred and imperfect. A harrowing comparison to that of her new husband's. Unmarred, not even a millimeter of a blemish on his skin. That scar on his forehead can hardly be considered a blemish anyway, it was too beautiful. And that build. He looked like divinity personified.

"This?" Gaara asked, pulling her hand away from her chest and replacing it with his own. "Scars are merely reminders of what we've been through. They may be constantly with us but you can't let them hold you back, Hinata," saying so as he unclasped her bra, revealing her upper half bare to him and him alone. Hinata automatically lifted her hands to cover her modesty only to be pried off by Gaara's much larger and surprisingly soft hands. "Show your scars, that is who you are."

"Is it now?" she allowed her hands to drift past the unruly hair covering his well-known scar. The only scar on his perfect body. His most beautiful feature apart from his eyes. Love.

"Yes, it is." He managed to rasp. Her touch was blazing. A tell-tale sign of what was to come. She lovingly stroked his scar, relishing in the feel of the raised skin. As a groan flew past his lips, Hinata's gentle touches came to an immediate halt.

"Oh my God! Are you okay, Gaara?" Worry and panic laced her otherwise gentle tone.

God, was she naïve. Had she no idea what she was doing to him? But God, she was perfect. So perfect that he had to restrain himself lest he lose himself in her. A deep husky chuckle from him. That turned her on even more, if it were possible. "I'm fine, Hinata."

"O-oh! S-shall I c-continue then?" Dammit! She was so nervous. How could she not be nervous? Half naked in front of the most powerful ninja of the Village Hidden in the Sand. Yeah... "You're adorable when you stutter, you know that?" A crimson coloring on her face and... oh... OH! She hasn't fainted yet. Yatta! "O-oh."

He couldn't resist it. She was too lovable. He kissed her. Hard. So hard that they both stumbled backwards to the bed, with Hinata landing back-first with a very, very aroused Kazekage on hovering above her.

"Shall I continue then?" Mimicking her earlier stuttered statement with a voice ladened with a fusion of lust and surprising enough to them both, love and affection. Sensing his sincerity through his words, she consented with a firm albeit nervous nod. Clothes were tossed and strewn around. All was lost in the throes of passion. Him whispering sweet nothings to the Hyuuga heiress to ease the process of claiming her maidenhood. She in turn moaning as the pain dulled into pleasure. Both of them chanting, moaning each other's name as if it were a spell to bring them closer to the edge. Gentle caresses followed by harsh thrusts. A shrill, pleasured scream from her, a glorified moan from him with each other's name on their lips and they came undone. Both basking in the afterglow. Perhaps this marriage wont be so bad after all.

"Up for another round, Hinata?" A gasp and a 'eep' that was sealed by a passionate kiss.

Nobody in the Kazekage's mansion had expected the Kazekage's wife to be so... loud. The soft-spoken woman was truly a testament on how to never judge a book by its cover.

Needless to say, the newlyweds didn't sleep that night.

Neither did their neighbors.

A/N;

- i just... idek