A/N This is my first story...pretty much ever. It's Gaara/Saturn (OC).
In the story Gaara is Kazekage and at the age of 20.
Hyuuga Saturn is an OC of mine- she's second in line to the Hyuuga, after Hinata. (Hanabi died of some disease on a mission gone wrong.)
Saturn is 19, a few years younger than Hinata (married to Naruto- Hokage).
She has long chocolate brown hair with a few blonde streaks, reaches her waist and is usually kept up in ponytail. Has a side fringe.
Her mother was Hyuuga but her father was not, so she has milky brown eyes.
Has problems with punctuality and sometimes gets into mischief. Overall, a curious person.
Please forgive any incorrectness in character information and OOCness that may and probably will appear.
Reviews would be great, harsh or not, constructive criticism is more than welcome.
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'You idiot,' she said through gasping breaths, 'if the chidori can hurt you, the rasengen will kill you.'
She struggled to stay standing, but lost the fight, falling to the ground.
Gaara stared at her in shock. This woman, who was nothing more to him than an inconvenience in an arranged marriage, had placed her life in front of him.
He had treated her with nothing but indifference, yet here she was, suffering where he should be.
'Be more wise *gasp* Kazekage-sama,' she said, snapping him out of his thoughts, 'you have a village to watch over.'
He stood frozen in place, unable to will his body into action, as he watched consciousness free itself from her.
That had been a fortnight ago, and still she lay on the hospital bed devoid of consciousness.
The leaf nin's attack that she had then blocked lay on a chair the other side of her bed, exhausted and sleeping.
Naruto had not left her once since she came off the operating table, and Gaara somewhat admired this loyalty to his friend.
Getting tired of looking at the same scene he had been in all day, he decided to move out onto the rooftop to watch the sky.
The cool night air embraced him as he stepped through the doorway leading to the outside world.
Sitting at the peak, Gaara stared up at the full moon and lost himself in the regrets of a fatal misunderstanding...what had started- those two months ago.
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THREE MONTHS AGO
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'And so the council has come the decision to abide by the rules, laid out many years ago by our first great ruler.'
Kankuro cocked an eyebrow at this announcement and looked over to see his younger brothers face showing no emotion or any sign of interest.
'And what has all this got to do with Gaara?' Temari asked, now curious as to the expressions held by the counseling committee.
'Do tell' Kankuro agreed.
'The law states that the ruler of this city, the Kazekage, must be married by the age of twenty-one to remain in power,' the lead spokesperson replied without the smallest inkling of what was to come.
'Gaara has just turned twenty,' Temari stated, 'Why do you bother us with this now? We have a whole year to prepare for that.'
'So one would think,' one of the village elders interjected, 'but the rules clearly states that he is to be married by his twenty-first birthday, therefore calling for a wedding and a bride before he is in truth, twenty-one.'
'What?!' Temari nearly shouted, 'we don't have time to find some girl, plan the wedding, and carry through with it in less than a year!'
'Yeah,' Kankuro added, 'who's gonna marry a complete stranger?'
"Especially one of high power! Don't you know power and such authority can be intimidating?!'
As Temari continued to argue with the committee Gaara sat there, unfazed and unaffected about this sudden declaration.
...'No! He won't go through with it. AND THAT'S FINAL!!' Several minutes later Temari was still fighting with the council while Kankuro had opted for just sitting and watching the display of fireworks.
'He MUST if he is to remain Kazekage,' the elder who had earlier been so composed was now at the end of his thread, and ready to explode.
'That's ridiculous. No one needs t- 'Temari was cut short by something Gaara said.
'Sorry my Lord, what is that you said?'
Kankuro looked to his younger brother with an eyebrow raised wondering why the entertainment had stopped.
'I said; I'll do it.'
The older of his siblings was left speechless and rather resembling a stunned mullet, while strangely his brother looked amused.
'Is there anything else I need to know?' the Kazekage's voice filled the quiet room.
'Ah yes,' the lead spokesperson cleared his throat and began.
'The marriage has come at a time when we need to secure our alliance with the Leaf. We have spoken to the Hokage and have come to a decision. That she who you marry, be of rank in Konoha.'
'And who would that be?' Temari asked, finding her voice again. 'The Hokage has no family, so to speak, other than his wife and she is of the Hyuuga clan, leaving no others of importance in availability.'
'That has also been decided. The head of the Hyuuga clan has offered his niece, Hyuuga Saturn- second female to Hinata, to be wed.'
'You'd think he'd get a little more choice in who he married,' Kankuro mumbled under his breath, yet heard by everyone in the room earning a few grunts of agreement.
'The wedding is to be three months from now, on a Saturday. Hyuuga Saturn will be coming to live here from next week so everyone can be acquainted before the event.'
The Kazekage nodded his agreement and with the the meeting was adjourned.
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'Saturn,' a stern voice called from within the office she was currently waiting before.
'Come in now,' That same voice called again.
Hesitating at the handle, she wondered if she should run- but decided against it on the grounds that it would irritate the owner of the voice even more so than she already had done
She already knew why she had been called here. It was because of the markets.
As a Hyuuga, she was expected to be neat, formal, and punctual. The first two she had easily kept, but it was the third that was the cause of her downfall.
Earlier that day she had accompanied one of the kitchen maids, Hana, to the markets.
She had lost herself in the splendor of it all; the colours and sounds so enchanted her as she wandered through the streets.
Soaking it all in she had lost track of time. When she finally noticed how high the sun had risen she went in search to find Hana, flustered and upset because Saturn had pulled the disappearing act on her yet again in a crowded part of town.
By the time the two woman had reached the compound they were late for lunch.
Usually this wouldn't bother Saturn, but today she had been instructed to dine with the head family, and to be late or disobey was highly risky.
Mentally preparing herself for the punishment that lay ahead, she opened the door and quietly slipped in, closing it in her wake.
'Come. Sit down,' the head of the Hyuuga instructed, not once bothering to look up from his papers.
She bowed respectfully- even though he was not looking directly at her, she knew he could see her.
So she fell into the roll of a Hyuuga delicacy (as she thought of it), and gracefully took her seat.
After waiting a few minutes his eyes moved from the scrolls to her, mentally scoffing at the nervousness he saw.
'I presume you know why you're here'...
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'Stupid weeds'........'stupid dirty fingernails'...............'stupid dust..neh! It's stuck to my lipgloss!'
Saturn had been listening to her genin team complain all morning.
Their current mission was pulling weeds and replanting some herbs. The female genin of the team was none too thrilled- to say the least.
'Ayane you're doing it all wrong, you do it like this....that way you don't fling dirt everywhere.'
Damon, the genius of the team, went on to show Ayane how to properly uproot the weeds and prepare the soil for placing the herbs in later.
'Ohh, so that's how you do it.'
Watching the two children work, she vaguely wondered how Daisuke was doing at the medical clinic.
He was the fourth member of their team and today he was being shown around the hospital and learning some basic medical jutsu. If she had the freedom to do so, she would have shrugged this mission off on to someone else so she could go watch how he took to it.
But freedom was something she didn't have right now.
Lord Hiashi had taken that away the afternoon she had showed up two hours late for lunch, now she was living under something akin to house arrest.
As soon as her team finished this mission she was to go home a prepare for a dinner she had to attend that night with the Hokage, Hinata, and Lord Hiashi.
If she was on time the house arrest would be lifted.
Getting down on her hands and knees, she instructed Ayane and Damon how to plant the herbs while making herself useful by helping.
Might as well get it over and done with.
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Three hours later Saturn stood in front of her mirror inspecting the work she had done. Somewhat displeased with the results.
The yakuta and obi were the easy parts, it was the hair and make-up that she was unsure about.
Scrutinizing her reflection she failed to hear someone knock and enter the room.
Only when she saw a familiar shape in the mirror did she realize she was not alone.
"Hana!" she cried, making the young woman jump. "How does this look? Do you think it'll pass Lord Hiashi's scrutiny?"
Seeing her friend's hesitation to reply she sighed and fell ungraciously into the nearest seat before looking up at Hana again.
"It's the hair isn't it? It look too much like a birds nest rather than a bun," she continued, answering her own question in place of Hana.
Had she not looked back down, she would have seen her faithful servant nearly failing to contain her laughter.
Coming up behind Saturn her fingers paused in mid air before asking permission to render the hairstyle.
"May I?" she asked, all timidity gone in the face of her master's distressed countenance.
Receiving a wave from the dishearted Hyuuga, she set to work, interpreting it as a yes.
After smoothing out a few hairs here and there, and rearranging a few pins she was done.
"There!" she exclaimed. "Now stop sulking, take a look, and get moving or you'll be under house arrest for the rest of your life."
The though of being watched twenty-four/seven for much longer so disgusted Saturn that she ran out the door without waiting to see the changes Hana had made.
Shouting a work of thanks over her shoulder she rushed down the halls and over to the main house, barely making it without tripping over the long hem of her yakuta several times.
Safely making it over to the veranda of the main house, she took a moment to catch her breath and check for any dirt she may have caused to land on her clothing.
Satisfied that she had not soiled the cloth, she walked through the front screens into the library to meet with Lord Hiashi before her cousin and husband's arrival.
Finding herself immediately under a harsh gaze she straightened up and smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt.
Lifting her chin in a defiant gesture she dared him to disagree, only to be greatly relieved when her uncle nodded in approval. Such a display of headstrong attitude would not be welcomed, nor tolerated from someone of her position.
The doorbell rang, breaking the silence that ensued the challenge she had mistakenly shown for all to see.
It was then that Lord Hiashi interrupted her musings. "Shall we?"