"Stealth is the art of remaining undetected; the art of being 'invisible'. To be 'invisible', the ninja has to understand how a person's presence is detected. A person detects presence by his eyes and ears. The ninja must learn to fool the enemy's sense of sight and hearing. In addition, when there are dogs guarding the premises, a ninja should avoid being detected by the dog's sense of smell."

I closed my book with a slight sigh, and pushed it over to the side. Why I was reading 'Ways to be a Ninja' was beyond me. For one, I wasn't much of a reader, and two I was the Kazekage, I didn't need to refine my shinobi skills. Life as the Kazekage was becoming boring though, all I did was sit in this confined office all day. My siblings hardly ever visited anymore, they were too busy traveling the world on missions. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my own company, seeing family now and then did pick my spirits up.

I inhaled, then exhaled deeply, rubbing my pale hand through my red hair. It needed a wash, and possibly a haircut. It was the only thing I found interesting about myself, my hair. It was redder than my fathers ever was, and Temari and Kankuro had our mothers side of the family when it came to their hair.

Although it was interesting to say the least, it constantly reminded me of blood. I was not proud of the lives I took, and I am personally disgusted at myself for doing that. But alas there is no changing the past, I just have to live with myself for what I have done. If my village has forgiven me, surely I can forgive myself?

"Um, Kazekage Sir."

I looked up slowly, to see my shy but strangely clingy assistant, Matsuri. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and she was looking down as if she was embarrassed. I said nothing.

"Your sister is back, she wishes for you to have dinner with her tonight."

Temari was back? So soon? I wasn't expecting her back for quiet sometime, a month to be exact, she couldn't be finish with her mission already? Matsuri looked at me longingly, and I knew that look. It was a look of want, she wanted something from me, but I didn't know what. "Ok."

"Great, I'll go tell her now," she chirped before walking off.

It wasn't odd that Temari wanted to have dinner with me, it was odd that she got Matsuri to ask me. I frowned a little at my sisters sneaky ways, it wasn't like her. I looked to the clock on the far right end of my desk, all messed up between the papers.

"5:30pm. She will be expecting me at six..."

0o0o0o0

"Wow, you actually came," Temari smirked at me holding the door open. "Well, come in," she urged.

I took in a deep breath and stepped into her tiny crammed apartment. It was small, very small. One bedroom, and an open planned kitchen and living room. I would never thought of this place to be something Temari would enjoy, but she loved it so much she bought the place. I closed the door behind me.

"You didn't invite me over for dinner," I said calmly as I walked into the living room slowly.

She gave a small laugh as she placed a small bowl on one side of the table, and another on the other side. "Not really, no, but it would nice to have dinner with my little brother."

I huffed a little bit in disbelief as she took a seat, and pointed for me to sit down too. I pulled out the wooden chair and sat down quietly, adjusting my Kazekage robes as they bunched beneath me. Temari began to eat, what look like a noodle dish, but I couldn't really figure out what it was. There was bits of green in it, purple and also blue. She was never the best cook in the world, but I did have to admit she tried.

"You can eat you know," she said to me mouth half full.

I took one last look at the colorful bowl, then back to my sister. "I'm not hungry."

She rolled her eyes at me and scoffed. "You never eat anything, you're probably all skin and bone under those robes," she pointed at me with her chop sticks. "How do you expect to find yourself a partner if you're as skinny as a twig?"

I flinched a little. Did she say partner? "...Partner..?" I asked confused.

"Yeah you know, like a girlfriend?"

I shook my head lightly as Temari's jaw dropped a little. "Gaara, your 21 years old and your telling me you have never thought about having a girlfriend?"

I suppose it never occurred to me that I would have a girlfriend, so I never thought about it. Why Temari thought of it as such a shock was beyond me. It wasn't like I would have time for a partner anyway, I had a village to run. "What did you really bring me here for?" I changed the subject.

She swallowed and placed her chopsticks down. "OK well as you know, I'm back from my mission early." I nodded. "Now my mission was set in Konoha, basically just to keep the friendship between our villages all happy and what not. Everything was going fine, then something strange happened."

I saw the change in Temari's features. It was subtle, but over all noticeable.

"I was sent back early by the Hokage because a disease broke loose."

"A disease?" I found myself asking.

She nodded. "A few shinobi we know were infected too. Neji Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, just to name a few."

There was a slight flicker of pain that passed through her eyes when she said Shikamaru's name. I knew of her relationship with him, even though she thought I didn't. It was obvious when she always picked the missions to Konoha, and he was always here on Konoha missions. "What type of disease is it?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Sakura and Tsunade are trying to figure out a cure, but its been 3 days since I left and..."

I nodded to her, as if telling her she didn't need to say anymore. If this disease was something serious, and I assumed it was, the Konoha shinobi's lives could be endangered.

"I just... Gaara... I was just wondering if you could do something?"

My eyes widened just a little as my sister looked over to me pleadingly. What was I supposed to do? I was not a medic, and that was not my village. She wanted to make sure Shikamaru was OK, but what help would I do to Naruto if he was dealing with a possible plague? I found myself nodding in response as a smile broadened across her face.

"Thank you," she beamed. "Thank you."

Dinner didn't last that long after that, we shared a few comments, mainly Temari to me, then it would be silent again. She gave me a long hug before I left, and initially I was shocked, we didn't share any kind of affection towards each other. She felt me flinch beneath her, but it didn't loosen her grip and I eventually put one of my arms around her and hugged her back. I suppose it was a sweet moment, if I wasn't so confused about what was going on. I knew Temari wanted me to help Konoha, to help Shikamaru, but I really had no idea what I was going to do. I just walked back to my office slowly, my sister and her actions stuck in my head; I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight.

...3 Days Later...

"Kazekage, sir, a letter has arrived for you from Konoha," Matsuri smiled at me.

I looked up from my paper work, gazing upon one of the most annoying woman in my life. I could understand her being around and helping me with paper work, but tending to me like I was a child was getting out of hand. Matsuri was great company when she wasn't being a fool, and lately that's all she seemed to be.

"It's from the Hokage."

I nodded lightly and returned my attention to the paper work before me; 'Academy reconstruction Scheme'.

"It's probably important..." she trailed off.

"Yes, Matsuri," I growled slightly.

She flinched a little, I saw it just after I spoke. She placed the scroll on my desk, bowed and walked out quickly. It was the first time I had ever been staunch with her, but it needed to be done. I wasn't sure what she wanted and why she was almost babying me, but it was becoming too much.

I looked up from my position slowly as the door hung slightly ajar, leaving room for the morning sun to peak through. This was the third time I had seen this sunrise, and it was also the third night I stayed up in a row. I hadn't slept for three days. I was worrying, about my sister, and that was odd. I wasn't worried about Shikamaru's well being, or Temari's. I also wasn't worried about her feelings for him, or how she would feel if his life were to be taken. It was strange, because all I could think about was letting her down.

I rolled my head back, stretching my arms above my head. I still needed to get a hair cut. I took in a deep breath before reaching over to the scroll Matsuri had left me. It was from the Hokage, I could tell by Naruto's childish handwriting. I proceeded to open it.

Gaara, buddy! How's it going? So you've probably heard from your sister that things over hear haven't been going so well. So... I have some good news and some bad news. Sakura and that old hag Tsunade managed to create an antidote and everyone that we knew of with the disease was cured. And yes that means Shikamaru survived, (just in case Temari wanted to know). But we did have one person we couldn't actually cure, we didn't get to her in time, and well... the disease set in and the antidote wouldn't work. She's been held in a sterilized room here at the local hospital, but we cant keep her here for much longer. From what we know, the major outbreak of the virus is over, and no one has been contracting any symptoms. But like I said before, we cant keep her here in the hospital for much longer, and coming into our wet season here in Konoha, I just don't want to take the risk of the virus mixing with our winter flu virus. And that my friend is where you come in. I've heard that the people of Suna have a pretty good immune system, and I want to ask you a big favor. Would you be willing to hold our patient in your walls for at least a month? This will give us time to immunize our village for the winter season, and also create more doses of the antidote. Of course, if you agree, I will be sending Sakura to help some of your medic nin create the antidote if any of your people were to be harmed. Its a highly impossible chance though, as its only transferred by blood, but we just cant really take any chances can we? Anyways, if you can help in any way it would be great, because the last thing I want to do is send her to a place I don't know, and I'm sure you would look after her. Thanks. Naruto.

I put the scroll down and rest my head in my hands. I was glad that Shikamaru was alright, because in all honesty I hadn't done anything to help, like Temari had asked me too. Now that everything was OK now, I wouldn't need to say anything, just give her the letter and all would be well.

But now I had to deal with the request from Naruto. He wanted to send a infected girl here to stay in my village while his recuperates? Of course I would say yes, it was Naruto after all, but then I had to deal with the council members. What would they think of the whole situation? I knew they wouldn't approve.

I scratched my head a little. Maybe I should just show Temari the letter and move on from there. Yes, that's what I would do.

"So... are you going to let them bring her here?" She asked with slight concern.

I was lucky enough that Temari was walking by, so there was no need to find her. I could tell though, by the look on her face that she wasn't at all please with the Hokage's request. She wouldn't express it forwardly. "I would like to say yes, but I need to speak with the council."

Temari took a seat on the opposite end of the desk. She placed the scroll down, and folded her hands across her lap. I watched closely as her eyes shifted from the floor, to me, then to the letter. She was hesitating.

"Are you sure it would be safe though? I mean, If that virus spread through the village..."

"Yes, it could be lethal."

Temari sighed and looked over to me with saddened eyes. "Look... Gaara. I know you want to help out your friend, but is it really worth putting the lives of our village in danger? Naruto said they were able to cure all but one. What if that happened here? Except with more than one? It just isn't logical."

I had to agree with her, it wasn't logical, but something within me told me to say yes. I wanted to help Naruto, I wanted to be able to help people, I wanted to show him what type of Kazekage I was. It was like a battle between what I wanted and what I needed. I needed to say no, for the sake of the village, but I wanted to say yes, for the sake of my friendship.

"Naruto wont hate you if you say no Gaara..."

I nodded slightly. "He said the virus is only spread through blood."

She looked at me with furrowed brows and nodded.

"It means as long as the patient is kept out of harms way, no one will catch the virus."

"Are you seriously considering this?" she scoffed out and I nodded in reply. "But why? You know the risks!"

"I also know that the bond between Suna and Konoha needs to remain strong."

"You're bringing politics into this?" she frowned. "The bond between Suna and Konoha will never break as long as you and Naruto are in power, you know that."

"I need to be sure."

Temari stood up in frustration, hands clenched at her sides and she growled to herself. She paced back and forth, before staring me down. "Good luck trying to persuade the council."

I would have got up myself, talked to her and asked her to calm down, but I just wasn't that type of person. All I did was watch her as she stormed out of my office, not even looking back at me. She was right about one thing, persuading the council would be hard, but they didn't need to know of my actions right now.

I pulled out a pen and paper from the side drawer of my desk, and began to write.

Naruto

Send her as soon as you wish

Gaara

It was a simple and straight to the point message. I knew fully that if I sent this letter, I would make myself a lot of enemies, but it wouldn't be anything different to what I was used to. I rolled the letter into a scroll, sealed it and waited till night fall. The council didn't need to know about what I was doing or what I was bringing into the village, they would just have to wait until the leaf nin arrived.

AN: Would love to hear what you think so far :) Please review :D