THE KAZEHIME TRIALS

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a work of fiction. I have only borrowed the names and places from the Naruto universe in order to create a story for the enjoyment of others.


CHAPTER ONE

As Temari sat in the sienna colored room, she could hear the gears turning in the old grandfather clock, which was preparing to chime the hour. After hearing the clock chime ten times, she gave a soft sigh. Gaara hearing her sigh gave her a quizzical look. Temari looked to Gaara and asked him, "Why does the council wish to meet this time?"

Gaara just gave her a shrug. "I'm not certain what the meeting will be about. I just hope they will not want to discuss my prospects for marriage. I am getting tired of telling them that I have no interest in getting married anytime soon. All I know is that we were requested to be at the council chambers at 10:30 a.m. and to be on time."

After sitting for another twenty minutes in Gaara's office, Temari got up and headed toward the council chambers. Once she entered the chambers, she took a seat to the right of Gaara. Kankuro took the seat on Gaara's left. The council members filled in the rest of the seats.

Gaara called the meeting to order. The chief council member opened the meeting by announcing the agenda of the meeting. The vice president of the council looked to Gaara and asked if he had any plans to find a wife. Gaara gave the man a glare and said that he didn't have the time to look into finding a wife. Then, he requested that the council stay out of his private life. The council, excluding Gaara's siblings, looked at Gaara with disappointed faces. Temari just rolled her eyes.

The chief council member cleared his throat and then addressed the rest of the council. "Since the Kazakage has not been able to take the time to find a wife, then we the council will assist him by finding several prospects for him." With a snort, Kankuro asked how they planned about doing this. The cheif council member recognized council member Kuuma and asked her to answer Kankuro's question.

Kuuma said, "We the council have decided to enact an old custom called the Kazehime Trials." Kuuma picked up a folder and showed it to everyone present. She continued, "The council would choose the Kunoichis, who would be participants in the trials. The last Kunoichi standing would be the next Kazehime."

Both Temari and Kankuro stared at the council with surprised looks on their faces. Gaara just looked at the council with a passive face not wanting to show any of his emotions. Inwardly, he could just imagine himself using his sand to kill his council. He felt that the council's idea to reinstitute the Kazehime Trials was crossing the line by making his personal life public. He would find someone who was worthy of himself and get married when he was damned ready to. Not when the council wanted it.

After clearing her face of all emotions, Temari wondered what the council was really up to. She looked to Kuuma and asked, "Is the trial only opened to Kunoichis chosen by the council or may others participate?" Kuuma answered that the trials were open to all Kunoichis, not just those specifically chosen by the council. She passed the folder to Temari and told her all the information she needed in regards to the trials were provided inside the folder.

"We the council request you, Temari, to be in charge of the trials," Kuuma stated. As Temari took hold of the file, she heard the chief council member telling Gaara that his presence was no longer needed. Then, he requested that Temari stay since they wanted to have a separate meeting with her.

Gaara nodded his head respectfully and closed the meeting. Before he left the room, Gaara turned to Temari and told her to come see him after her meeting with the council. She nodded her head in answer to his request.

After the council watched Gaara and Kankuro leave the room and close the door behind them, they turned to Temari and announced that this meeting was to discuss her part in the Kazehime Trials.

Kuuma spoke up, "Temari you will need to send notices to all the participants regarding when and where the trials will take place. You will also need to provide them with the rules and guidelines for the trials. Copies of those can be found in the folder you are holding. You will also be held responsible for each participant's safety during the trials.

Anyone who is knocked unconscious during the trials is to be pulled immediately and they will be declared a defeated participant. Do you have any questions?"

Temari looked at Kuuma and shook her head no. "If I have any questions, I will come to you and ask," Temari said. She wanted time to look over everything in the folder and make sure she was prepared before contacting any of the participants.

Before Temari could leave, the chief council member cleared his throat, "Temari, under no circumstances are you to let Gaara know the names of the participants." Temari looked at the council member with a suspicious look.

"Why am I not allowed to tell Gaara who the participants are?" Temari asked. "Gaara should be able to have some say in who he may be marrying in the future." The vice president of the council fielded this question. He told her that if Gaara was made aware of whom the participants were then they would never be able to find a Kazehime for Gaara that they would approve of. "We would like a simple solution that would entail less of a fight from Gaara-sama," he explained further. Temari accepted his answer for now, but still walked away from the council with a suspicious mindset. She really wanting to know what the council's true motives were.

After leaving the council chambers she headed to Gaara's office. While heading toward his office, she prepared herself mentally for the questions she knew her brother was going to ask her. As she entered his office, she noticed Kankuro sitting on the sandy-colored loveseat that was against the far left wall of the office. Gaara was sitting behind his desk working.

Temari cleared her throat in order to gain her brother's attention and so he would acknowledge her presence. Gaara looked up from the scroll he was reading and directed her to sit in the chair in front of his desk. She took her seat and looked at Gaara, waiting for his questions to start.

Gaara requested that she fill him in on what the council spoke to her about. She informed him that the council requested her to be in charge of the trials. He then asked her the one question she knew he would ask: "Who has the council chosen to participate in these trials?"

"I have been heavily instructed by the council not to tell you who the participants are," Temari told her younger brother. Gaara glared at Temari after hearing her answer. She sensed his anger rising.

Temari knew Gaara wanted nothing to do with these trials. "Let me look into the rules and guidelines. I may be able to find a loophole that will get you out of this," she suggested. He thanked her with hopeful eyes.

"I am getting ready to leave for Konoha in the next couple of days," Gaara announced.

"That will make this the fourth month in a row that you have made a personal trip to Konoha,." Temari said with some surprise. "What is so important that you need to go this time?"

"I have personal business that I need to talk to the Hokage about. Business that does not concern you at this time." Gaara emphasized this point. "This business cannot be left to a messenger. I must do this in person." Temari just looked at her brother and said, "ok."

Kankuro then decided to speak up. He said, "I wonder how that sweet Sakura blossom is doing?"

Gaara gave his brother an annoyed harrumph and told him, "you are staying here and will be taking care of some of my responsibilities. There will not be enough time for you to worry about any type of blossoms.

I will be taking Temari with me this time. I am certain that she would like some time to spend with a certain troublesome Nara." When he looked over to his sister, Gaara saw a small blush on her face that she was trying hard to hide. "Temari, make sure you are ready to leave within two days. We will be leaving at sunrise." Temari shook her head at both of her brothers and bid them goodbye. Then, she went to her room. She wanted to make sure she had enough time to go over everything in the folder before she left for Konoha.