So, the idea for this story came a while back, but I've been having a tough time getting it started, but...I finally have, and I think I'm going to enjoy it. It's set about 3 or 4 years after the shippuuden setting.

I don't own Naruto...obviously...but I do hope you enjoy it!

Sabaku no Temari was sitting in front of yet another vanity, applying decorative traditional make-up and sighing out of sheer nervousness. She would go through with it this time, she wouldn't back out at the last second and leave another man at the alter. Yet, she was nervous, not a feeling that the konoichi was familiar with. She had only ever been truly nervous a few times in her life, and every time one of her family member's lives was on the line.

She stiffened as she heard the door behind her click open and she looked at her brunette brother through the mirror. He gave her a small, wry smile, which she tried vainly to return. She threw the tube of make-up at the mirror as she turned to face her brother, who looked strangely handsome in his ceremonial yukuta, rather than his usual black puppeteer get-up. His face was make-up-less and his eyes were searching her face, trying to decipher her thoughts.

"Tem, are you alright?" He said concernedly.

"Hn, it's just…I'm just…" Temari tried to articulate her feelings as she looked at her brother's worried face.

"We're not going to have another man standing by himself are we?" Kankuro, as always was blunt and straight to the point.

"I don't know." Temari replied honestly.

Kankuro knelt down in front of his sister and tried to smile, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to regret it?"

"…I don't know." Temari couldn't bring herself to meet her brother's eyes.

"Do you love him?"

"I-I…don't…know." Kankuro sighed as he held his sister's trembling hands.

"Well, what do you know?" Kankuro raised his voice, an invitation for Temari to look at him. "What do you like about him?"

"He's tall, and handsome. He…he is kind to me, and he puts up with my temper. And, and…" Temari tried desperately to remember something else that she liked about Hikaru.

Kankuro remained silent as he waited for Temari to finish her thought. "But, while he deals with my temper, he never stands up for himself. He never has the guts to tell me I'm wrong; he doesn't tell me when I'm being an idiot, even when I know it's true. He's so serious, and…and he can't even beat me in shouji. I have to let him win, and that way…it's no challenge. …I guess I put up with him because he's easy."

Kankuro closed his black eyes and looked at Temari as he said carefully, "Temari, I know you like a challenge, and I know you never take the easy route, but if everything you've just said to me now is true, why are you sitting here ready to marry Hikaru?"

"…I don't know…" Temari sighed as her voice cracked in her anxiety.

"Besides, who's ever been able to beat you in shouji?" Kankuro tried to crack a joke, but it seemed to have the opposite of his intended effect.

"…Shikamaru…" Temari's blue eyes shimmered in the light from the room as she held back tears.

"Hey, hey, don't get upset…it's going to be okay." Kankuro moved closer to his shuddering sister, rubbing small circles on her back to calm her down.

The brunette moved away as he felt his sister stiffen in his embrace, "Wha-?"

"I have to go." Temari broke away from him, rubbing furiously at her face.

"Go? Where do you have to go?" Kankuro landed on his backside as Temari bolted from her seat and began to gather up her belongings, stripping out of her ceremonial garb. Kankuro turned his back to his sister as he tried to understand what was going on.

"Where are you going?"

"…I'll be back, sooner or later, I just have to go, now." Temari hefted her fan onto her back and perched herself on the window ledge. "I'll be in touch, and please tell Hikaru that I'm sorry."

She didn't give Kankuro any time to reply before she slid out into the hot Suna afternoon.

There was a slight knock on the door before Gaara entered the room. His green eyes found Kankuro on the floor looking out the window perplexedly. "Again?"

"Yeah…" Kankuro muttered.

"That's the fifth…I guess I had better go inform everyone that there will not be a wedding."

Gaara turned to leave but he stopped when Kankuro said, "I think she went back."

"It was to be expected. Sooner or later, she was going to realize that she made a mistake. She always does." Gaara replied wisely.

"Yeah…" Kankuro sighed. "Well, let's go break the happy mood…again."

Gaara smirked slightly at his brother's quip and they exited the room together, once again the bearers of bad news to another man Temari had left at the alter.

---

Temari sped across the desert, faster than she'd ever run before. She felt dampness on her cheeks, which she attributed to the speed of the wind rushing past her face. It would take her two days to get to him; she just hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed when she got there.

---

Gaara and Kankuro stepped out of Temari's preparation chamber and into a crowd of people. "I would like everyone to gather in the foyer, if that would be convenient. Oh, could someone go fetch Hikaru?" Gaara's clear voice echoed around the hallway.

The cluster of friends, family, and ex-future in-laws followed Gaara's and Kankuro's wake into the main foyer. Sea green eyes swept the room to make sure everyone was present. "Everyone, we regret to inform you that there will not be a wedding today..."

"What do you mean?" Hikaru stormed forward, his hand sweeping through his blond hair.

"Exactly what he said. There will be no wedding today, nor will there be one tomorrow, and the day after that isn't looking good either." Kankuro crossed his arms over his chest looking annoyed.

"What do you mean? Where's Temari?" Hikaru's relatives and friends had fallen silent and were watching him with pity.

"She…is gone." Gaara replied quietly.

"Gone? Gone where?" Hikaru looked like a lost little boy as his brown eyes darted between Gaara and Kankuro.

"Out the window, into the desert—she decided that this wasn't what she wanted, that you—"

Kankuro never got to finish because a fist had flown at his face, cracking his jaw, its owner shouting, "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

---

Gaara sat calmly at his desk, writing a letter to Tsunade asking her to permit Temari entrance into the village without the proper paperwork. He looked up briefly to catch Kankuro's eye to show that he was still paying attention to his rant.

"But what did the asshole have to hit me for?" Kankuro finished huffily.

"…Because he didn't want to hit the Kazekage." Gaara replied wearily.

Kankuro lounged back in his seat grumbling, "Do you want me to take that up to the—"

"No, I will handle it myself." Gaara gave his brother a reproachful look. "You really think I'm going to have you go up there when Hikaru's brother is on duty?"

"…" Kankuro didn't say anything but the look in his eye was enough to gauge an inappropriate, displeased response.

Gaara shook his head tiredly and left Kankuro muttering to himself.

"The things we go through for that girl…" The brunette glowered, rubbing his bruised jaw.

Reviews are wonderful, and they are a helpful indicator of whether or not I should continue or not. Either way, they are encouraged, and I would be most appreciative if I were to receive some!