Chapter 1

"Hey lil bro! You need me?" came the question from an overactive kitty-cat shinobi. Gaara looked towards the doorway of his rather large office to find his perverted older brother, Kankurou, smiling stupidly at him. "When on the job" he began, as he returned to his paperwork "You are to address me as Kazekage-sama" Kankurou waved him off before starting his ranting once again.

"Kazekage or no Kazekage, you're my little brother and you can't change that!" normally Gaara would have his head for this; but , thankfully, ever since his first encounter with the nine-tailed host, Uzumaki Naruto, and his fight with the Akatsuki; Gaara had changed. He became more tolerant, and so didn't kill or threaten people as often; all in all one could call the ex- Jinchuuriki kind. Even if he still had the same clam, uncaring air around him and was not much of a talker.

Their argument continued, mostly one sided, till the heavy oak doors of the Kazekage's office closed with a loud 'thump'; informing them of an audience. Kankurou turned from were he stood on the slippery floor to see a young girl no older than he was. Her beige ninja pants hung low on her slender hips, held up by her sand headband. Her matching jonin jacket was open to reveal a sleeveless, white belly shirt which contrasted beautifully against her sun browned skin.

She raised a slender brown eyebrow towards Kankurou's direction before setting her gaze on the red head. "You called, Kazekage-sama?" she said with a small bow. "You took long to get here (l/n)" Kankurou smirked in triumph "Yeah; we've been waiting for a while now." The kunoichi send a glare in the direction of the oversized cat before returning her piercing chestnut eyes on the Kazekage. "I apologize my lord Kage; I had some unfinished business to attend to that required my immediate attention.

Gaara only 'hn' and returned to the current paperwork while addressing them. "You have a mission" he was interrupted by a rude older brother "That's kinda obious Gaara" said boy send a glare in his brothers direction before continuing. "You are to escort a high lord to Konoha. Take him straight to the Hokage upon arriving. His daughter, the reason to the sudden trip, is to wed a noble over there. It's to not only tie together the two families; but with the union of to the houses the strength between Konohagakure and Sunagakure will also increases. No harm is to come to them. This envelop contains any details I might've missed. You're dismissed" Both (f/n) and Kankurou gave a small bow before departing from the Kazekage's office.

"Well" started Kankurou "It seems we have yet another mission together (f/n)-chan! It seems the fates are telling us something" He eyed her form. She only gave him a wide smirk and flipped her chocolate brown hair out of her face. "Or that the Kazekage has realized that no one dies under my watch. You, my dear Kankurou, are merely here as a sidekick." Kankurou frowned slightly before adorning a smirk of his own. "No, I think it's the fates"

She sighed and started walking away form the grinning cat, as if suddenly becoming bored with the exchange of witty banter. Kankurou raced after her as they made their way to the village gates to wait for the high lord and his daughter; already having predicted a mission both had come prepared. "Ah come on (f/n)-chan, you know you love me" again said girl decided to ignore her current partner and continued the short walk to the gates.

They did not have to wait long before a small carriage pulled by ox's stopped next to them. "Are you the body guards the Kazekage send?" Asked an old man in wealthy clothes. They gave him a small bow and introduced themselves. "I see, well my name is Chyoyi-sama and this is my daughter Karine" a rather shot girl stepped out of the carriage. She was pale with long platinum blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She wore a brown traveling dress that showed off her curves and reached to just above her knees. Her small hands were placed left-over-right on top of her midriff and her face wore no expression.

She was a beauty no doubt; but it was her eyes that were ugly. They where a beautiful sky blue, the reason they were so ugly was the shallowness of them. It felt that if you tried to dive in not even a hair would be thoroughly submerged. "I don't like them" she stated to her father as both ninja's faces turned to shock. "Excuse me?" said the browned haired kunoichi. The blonde ignored her and addressed her father once more. "The man is a cat and the other is a girl. Are ninja's not supposed to be handsome and kind looking men?" (F/n) practically flew towards the girls neck, she would have reached her destination too if it hand not been for a pair of strong arms holding her back.

The girl sneered at her as she fought against Kankurou's death grip. The father gave an apologetic glance towards the two before looking at his daughter. "Karine, these are two of the best ninja's in Sunagakure. The Kazekage himself asked specially of them to escort us towards Konohagakure." Her faze turned red in anger as she addressed her father ignoring the two only further. "And why could the Kazekage not come himself? Am I not important enough? Surely one such as handsome as him would feel honored to escort me."

(F/n) has to bite her lower lip in under to contain several insults. The father's expression turns to panic. "But daughter, you are to be married! The Kazekage did not come himself because he knew he could not have you." Both (f/n) and Kankurou snorted at the comment and nearby guards were trying hard not to laugh. The girl, being as vein, and naïve, as she was, took her father's words to heart "I see you are correct. Still I do not like them" she pointed a perfectly manicured fingernail towards them and climbed back into the carriage, shutting the door behind her.

The tired man turned to the shinobi and gave them a deep bow. "I am truly sorry for my daughter's attitude. She has been like this ever since her mother died." Kankurou gave him a wave as if telling him there was no need to be modest. "Sure, blame the dead mom" muttered (f/n) before elbowing Kankurou in the ribs so that he'd let go of her. Upon being freed she started walking towards the front of the carriage, near the oxen. She turned slightly to the man. "Are we going or not?" she said.

Kankurou gave a stiff nod and walked to the end of the carriage still holding his stomach while the High lord Chyoyi mounted the carriage. The first day went fairly well, the only problem being a broken wheel which was quickly replaced. The young shinobi did not catch another glance at the obnoxious girl till they settled down in an inn for the night. And then they only saw the ends of her sun blonde hair as she stumped towards her room.

"I hate her" stated (f/n) as she and Kankurou settled in their room which was between the High lord and the girl. Kankurou shrugged "Well at least she has looks right?" he said off handedly "Yeah, with no brain" replied (f/n). Again, Kankurou shrugged and motioned for her to go to sleep since he would be taking the first watch.

"It's hot!" they heard a shrill voice scream form in side the carriage. The group was well into its second day of travel, the sun high in the sky creating an almost unbearable heat. They traveled slowly, the carriage slowing down their trek, but would soon quicken their pace knowing that in a few hours time they would enter the forest where the Land of Fire began.

The shinobi exchanged a glance but the driver looked at peace. "Does she not annoy you?" asked (f/n). The driver her gave her a kind smile and shook his head. "I've been with them since Karine was a child" The kunoichi gave him a sympathetic smile to which the driver chuckled and thanked her for. After all, the shinobi only had to deal with her three, four days while the poor driver has had to deal with the brat all his life. "Actually, she's quite calm right now" He laughed at the shocked expressions on the shinobi's face and returned his gaze to the endless sand ahead.

There was a sudden change in the air as the woods of the Land of Fire were seen far away. The carriage stopped suddenly, making the carriage jerk violently. Up ahead stood two men, both dressed completely in black and hiding their faces with silver masks. "Who the hell?" said Kankurou as he traveled the length of the carriage to stand at the front with (f/n).

"Ninja's" came (f/n)'s reply to his unasked question "Strong one's" she concluded after taking a look at their chakra. A smirk covered her features "But not strong enough to cause us any trouble" At hearing this Kankurou also smirked. (F/n) had a gift for seeing other's chakra; she could easily tell their strength and element.

The high lord poked his head out of the carriage window "Why the sudden stop?" he asked. Kankurou replied over his shoulder something that was lost in the wind as one of the two shinobi disappeared from sight. Alarm took over (f/n) features as she took her position besides the carriage, ready for battle. Kankurou followed suit, mimicking her movements on the other side of the carriage.

"Do not leave the carriage until further notice" said the sun browned kunoichi as she held a kunai in her left hand. The wind shifted again and the unaccounted ninja jumped out of the sand launching straight for Kankurou. A smirk covered Kankurou's features as he calmly reached behind him for one of his scrolls. Just as the unwelcome visitor reached Kankurou the said shinobi ran a bloody finger down the scrolls figures.

The mysteries shinobi was caught in Kuroari's chest as its partner Karasu plunged its blades into the shinobi, successfully killing him. The cat's victory didn't last long as the air once again shifted brining the smell of burning paper with it. (F/n) back flipped onto the roof of the vehicle to find an explosive tag attached to its top. In the blink of an eye she jumped back down, opened the door, and dragged Chyoyi out of said carriage; while Kankurou, having also smelled the smoke, mimicked (f/n) and grabbed hold of a startled Karine.

They ran with the driver and the freed oxen on their heels as far away from the vehicle as they could get before collapsing into the hot, yellow sand and covering their faces. A 'boom' was heard as wood flew everywhere. Karine could do nothing but stare at the remains of her favorite form of transportation. Her mouth moved as if trying to form words that would not come. The High lord was the first to recover from the three passengers. "What now?" he asked, his eyes still filled with surprise. "Now" said the brown hair kunoichi "We walk"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. Just this plot and the made up stuff