(NOTE):...Okay, I just couldn't resist writing this. Lately I've been coming up with ideas for one-shots and I had to write at least one. Maybe I'll write another, but I'm currently working on a few fics, so we'll have to see. But first, see what you think of this one, it's pretty long!
Oh, and 1) I'm not 100 percent sure about how the villages work, so bear with me okay? 2) I apologize already for any grammatical errors, I seriously suck :P.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Damn (bangs head against desk).
The contempt that the Hidden Sand Village had for the Land of the River was rapidly becoming a major issue, yet Temari could fully understand why her village felt that way.
That had been, after all, where her brother had been held captive by that freak organization.
Because of this, many people had become furious with the neighboring land for harboring such an evil group, although the Land's Lord, of course, had been completely oblivious to their existence.
Even so, if anyone from the Land of the River walked into the Sand Village, or Wind territory, they would be looked down upon and treated almost as enemies; this, in turn, enticed the victimized Land to do the same to the Wind citizens.
All in all, it was a huge mess.
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For a while, there had been only tension and harsh words traded between the two countries, until one idiotic River bandit thought he would be funny and stupidly attack a Sand ninja on gaurd. That bandit had been killed, of course, but the animosity between the Village and the Land grew nearly tenfold.
More and more fights began to happen on the streets and it was only a matter of time before someone was killed.
Although Temari and her two younger brothers had tried to convince the population to leave the Land of the River alone, the people were deaf to their pleas (and their orders). It was somewhat moving to see how much the people had come to love and respect their Kazekage, the very person they had once hated and feared, but the Land of Wind couldn't afford to become enemies with another country.
This aggresiveness had to stop.
Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and all the council knew that the Lord of Wind would do nothing to help cease the fighting. Instead he would probably declare war on the Land of the River. So, Kazekage Gaara had had no choice but to request a meeting with the Lord of the River for peaceful negoitiations.
The wary Lord had agreed as long as the meeting was held on his own territory. For a long time, Gaara was unable to attend it due to his much needed prensence in the village and the council constantly bantered him into sending an emissary instead.
Temari knew that there was still a great deal of work to be done in the village after the infamous attack and abduction, but she knew that the council was just trying to keep their beloved Kazkage out of the the Land that they had deemed "untrustworthy." Truth be told, she herself was a little unsure about letting him go and suggested that either she or Kankuro go in his stead.
But her brother insisted that he go himself, so the council had no choice but to let him leave.
Still, Temari and Kankuro refused to allow him to travel to the Land of the River without them, so they were appointed as his personal gaurds and left Baki in charge until they returned.
The journey had been, thankfully, uneventful and they arrived at the Lord's palace the night before the negotiations were to take place.
The River Lord's castle was a clearly traditional style and very beautiful, but in Temari's opinion, it was a bit excessive.
No, not a bit, it was excessive.
It was very large and spacious and at least a fourth of the rooms looked like they weren't even being used. There were many servants that were rushing about and cleaning the halls, but Temari was willing to bet that over half of the things they were doing was unnecessary.
When she had been led to the room where she would be staying, she realized why the Land of the River had never been widely known for it's wealth. It seemed what ever riches the land had were mostly spent by the Lord and his family.
Temari already felt concerned and uncomfortable about these negotiations.
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That night, she had been invited to a dinner in which the 'the esteemed members of both noble families were to be present.'
Many servants had been sent to bathe and dress her, but she sent every one of them away, claiming that she could do it herself. Some of the servants, however, were too stubborn and absolutely refused to leave without at least helping her dress.
She wanted these nogiations to go well and knew she had to set a good example, so she had no choice but to quickly bathe and allow them to practically tie her into the clothes that they had provided.
There were so many parts to the outfit and so much jewelry that she nearly had to strangle servants to 'convince' them to leave most of it off. Even with the outfit unfinished, she felt overdone...and kinda sluttly.
The dress she wore felt more like a corset, as it was tight and forced any skin she had on her chest to become a part of her breasts. The folds of the robe she wore stopped right when they reached the sides of the tightly packed mounds and the strange headress she was pressured to wear nearly gave her a headache.
Bright lipstick was placed on her lips and dark shadow was smeared over her eyes; as she looked at her image in the mirror, she decided that the entire outift made her look like a rich whore.
When she made her way to the banquet hall, she had to concentrate on not tripping on the long cloth of the train and the tight, uncomfortable shoes on her tortured feet.
As she walked into the room and saw her brothers sitting at the table, Gaara at one of the heads and Kankuro to the right of him, she couldn't have felt more humilated (and Kankuro's snickering wasn't making things any better either). They had, apparantly, been able to convince their servants into leaving them alone, for Kankuro, void of his black outfit and purple face paint, was dressed in a simple dark green kimono and Gaara was in his traditional Kazekage robes.
Temari could still remember the repulsion she had felt when she had first seen the Lord of the River and his family.
The Lord himself was a large, tubby old man that clearly basked in his own wealth and spoiled himself with riches. He had been dressed in a heavily decorated robe that was absolutely gaudy and looked and smelled like he had been marinated in strong, suffocating perfumes.
His family, which only consisted of two sons, wasn't much better. They were dressed in flamboyant clothes like their father, but she couldn't really tell if they had any scents, as the Lord's was too strong to even tell. One was about her age, a tall, lanky strip of a guy, unlike his father, with a large nose, huge ears, and pimples gracing his face. The second, around Kankuro's age, was a shorter version of his father, and she wondered how two boys so different in looks could possibly be brothers. Temari shuddered as she felt their eyes looking over her (she thought) exaggerated form.
Their poor mother, whoever she was. She must have run away.
She had sat down to the left of her youngest sibling and remained quiet through almost the entire meal. The only time she even spoke to the River Lord himself was when he asked of her relationship to the Kazekage.
She correctly guessed that she would barely say more than "His older sister, My Lord" all night. She could tell right away that this was a very traditional family and were the types to prefer women to remain silent unless they were spoken to. This made her sick, and even if she hadn't been being suffocated by the tight outfit, she doubted she could stomach anything.
By the time the dismal meal was over, she was too tired and too pissed to do anything but go straight into her room, tear off the damn dress with gasping breaths, and slip into a large shirt and pair of shorts before fainting onto her futon, which was blessedly soft, and fall, more like slam, into a deep sleep.
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The next day she woke up late, but it hardly mattered since she wasn't allowed into the meeting anyway, so she spent the day training with Kankuro (kicking his ass for laughing at her the other night) and looking around the River town.
As she passed through, the sneers and anxious looks thrown in her direction caught her attention, but she ignored them as she scanned her eyes over the stores and restaurants the town had to offer.
While she was gazing at some small cozy cafe she made a mental note to try, she stumbled as something rammed into her legs and was just barely able to catch a small arm before the little girl she had tripped over fell to the ground.
She helped steady the young child to her feet and and gave her a small half smile.
"You should be a little more careful." she said directly, knowing it was the kid who had knocked into her. The girl looked up at her with a worried gaze and nodded frantically at her.
"Y-yes, I'm so sorry, Miss! I would do it again! Honest!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down." Temari said as she let go of the girl's trembling limb "I'm not gonna bite. Just watch where your going next time."
The girl rubbed the released arm and directed her eyes to the ground, "I'm sorry, I know I wasn't watching where I was going. I just wanted to find my parents and big brother."
Temari sighed, knowing what that meant.
It was true that Temari wasn't the nicest kunoichi in the sand village, but she wasn't cold hearted. She knew she couldn't leave this poor kid out on the streets without trying to help. One way or another, she would end up having to search for the child's lost family.
But she could at least make it a little more...interesting.
"Alright," she said opening her fan "what do they look like? Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything, I'm just gonna see if I can find them."
"H-how?" the girl said, still looking nervously at the large weapon.
"Like this."
The child yelped as Temrai picked her up with one arm and threw the fan into the air with the other. She then quickly hopped onto the now levitating weapon and plopped the girl down next to her as she navigated the fan to fly higher.
"Okay," Temari said as she leveled the fan out "you see them anywhere?" She couldn't help but smile as the small kid gazed wide-eyed at the town below them, mouth gaping.
Temari said nothing for a while and just let the girl laugh and enjoy the ride.
Her thoughts went back to when she had been as young as the small kid next to her. The first time she had ever flown was a time when she had really had no time for fun. She had been to busy trying to please her strict, stern father and had forced herself to pass the thrilling feeling off and consider the flight as another mere accomplishment.
Her reminiscing was interrupted by the girl's loud voice.
"There they are!" she cried happily, pointing to the ground.
The wind mistress looked down to see a man and woman searching frantically through the crowds for their something, more than likely for their lost daughter.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the beaming kid began to wave her arms "Look at me! I'm flying!"
Temari chuckled as the parents looked up and their eyes widened at their airborne child. The crowd joined their amazed look as the she hovered around an empty space and gently helped the kid down.
The amused kunoichi smirked at all the shocked expressions as the girl ran into her parents waiting arms, all the while exclaiming "Did you see me, Mommy?! Oh, Daddy, the Sand Lady was so nice to me! She helped me find you! I thought you said that the Sand people where mean?!"
The girl's father cleared his throat nervously and bowed when he approached the still smirking Temari.
"I thank you for bringing my daughter back, Miss Sand Ninja." he said politely "I apologize for any trouble she might have been to you."
Temari ignored the urge to roll her eyes at the man's formal attitude. Before she could tell him that it was no problem, she was cut off by a loud "HARUMI! There you are!"
She saw a young boy run up to the little girl she had just helped and envelop her in a huge hug. "Little Sister, I was so worried! You should know better than to run off like that!"
Temari felt something clench in her heart as she saw little Harumi hug her brother back. It was strange. She usually didn't feel anything during sappy, mushy moments, but this had somehow touched her with a sense of...saddness?
What the hell?
"Well, like I said, Kid." Temari said as she redirected her fan and began to fly off "Be more careful next time." She could barely hear the "I will! Thank you so much, Miss Sand Lady!" over the wind rushing across her ears as she headed back to the palace.
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Since that day, the people's attitude toward her and the other Sand Ninja had changed and it made their stay much more enjoyable. That was a very good thing since the negotiations took about a week to resolve.
During that week, she had seen Harumi and her brother, Masanori, many times and they had shown her and Kankuro around the village and told them of their history.
The Land of the River was, in a nutshell, a rather traditional place and was unfamiliar with some what went on in the world around them. Needless to say, it was very enjoyable to watch the young pair's eager faces as the two Sand siblings told them stories about their missions and showed them how their weapons worked.
But, eventually the week was up and Temari found herself actually upset that they were leaving the two young siblings behind. In many ways, the times she and Kankuro had spent with them seemed more like a family outing, and deep down, Temari wished that perhaps one day she and Kankuro could spend more family time with their own younger sibling.
Although it was sad to leave Harumi and Masanori, Temari was truly a bit homesick and felt happy when she arrived back in her own, sandy village.
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However, when she heard about what had been included in the peace treaty between the two countries, she became furious.
The Lord of the River and the Kazekage of Wind had mutually agreed on peace between their two countries, but it seemed that the Sand Village was giving the Land of the River a lot more than what they deserved.
The Lord of the Land of the River had agreed to watch out of any person wearing a black cloak with red clouds and warn the Land of Wind if any such person was discovered. He had also argeed to manually assist the Land of Wind and send workers to help rebuilt any damage in the Sand Village. There would be trading between the two countries of course and occasional financial aid whenever there was a crisis. There were other smaller things the River Land offered, but they were obviously nothing compared to what Wind was giving them.
For some strange reason, Gaara had agreed to give them Sand ninja to help gaurd the River Lord's palace and the boarders of his land.
Admittedly, the Land of the River was not a country that had it's own Hidden Ninja Village and was a non-shinobi country, but they did still have their own army, and none of it was being offered to the Land of Wind. Not that they needed any, but still, why on earth would Gaara offer the spoiled, chubby Lord some of Sand's own ninja without asking for anything in return?!
She knew that the ninja and the citizens didn't care why, as long as their villages were safe, but Temari was ticked and wanted to know!
But she had to wait until they arrived safely home in order to talk to (or try to chew out) her youngest brother. Since Gaara was still extremely busy, she actually had to 'request an audience with her Kazekage' in order to speak with him about political matters.
Request an audience to speak to my little brother?! Ugh, I don't BELIEVE THIS!
Yet all she could do was let out frustration but taking it out on her other sibling while they were training.
"Temari...SHIT!" Kankuro was just able to move out of the way of his pissed sister's whirlwind and manuever his puppets away from the attack "Is something going on that I should know about?"
"Maybe, maybe not!" she hissed as she sent another attack in his direction. Again, Kankuro was able to just barely miss it and send Kuroari in her direction. She jumped out of the way and was just about to make another attack before she felt long wooden arms shoot out from behind her and trap her against a hard surface.
She swore as she struggled against Karasu's arms, but they naturally held fast and forced her to stay put as her brother walked up to her with a raised eyebrow.
"You're sloppy today." he said crossing his arms "That's not like you at all. You might as well tell me what's wrong and get it over with already."
"It's nothing!" she insisted, but she sighed when she realized that her brother wouldn't let her go unless she talked "It's just that...don't you find it wierd that Gaara agreed to send our ninja over the Lord of the River without demanding anything else in return?" Kankuro stayed silent as he looked at her, probably thinking about his reply.
He closed his eyes as he finally answered.
"In all honesty, no. I don't. Whatever Gaara does, you know he does it for our sake." His eyes opened and he stared seriously at Temari's face. "He wants what's best for all of us, and we have to trust him with his decisions."
"I know that, Kankuro! I'm not saying he was wrong, I'm just..."
"Yes you are."
"Well...alright, maybe I am, but Kankuro, think about it! He's sending the ninja over to be under the command of the Land of the River! That means they will no longer be under our control! There has to be a reason why Gaara would agree to this! Has...has he told you something?" Temari knew that Gaara and Kankuro had become closer over the years and that they told each other certain things that Temari was often unaware of.
But Kankuro just sighed as he made Karasu let the questioning kunoichi go and called both of his puppets back. It was true; he did know a little more than his sister about the situation, but he knew anything a conversation between him and Gaara held, stayed between them. He did not want to betray his younger brother's trust just when he was gaining it.
"You know I barely know more than you do, Temari." he lied.
"But you do know something, don't you!" she retrieved her fan and held it up offensively "Come on, tell me what you know!"
"Only that the Land of the River is a very traditional place, as you yourself well know, but it is especially old-fashioned when it comes to forming alliances. If the River Lord offers to become friends with another, stronger country, he wants something that makes sure that the deal is sealed. By giving him our ninja, he has security and we have his promise that he won't ever betray us."
"So, what, they're..a gift?! A bribe to make sure that he won't turn on us?! That's ridiculous! What about them?! How do the ninja feel about his?"
"Gaara has already spoken to them and was able to gather volunteers. No one is being sent against their will."
"But how is the Lord of the River so sure we won't betray him?!"
Temari was too determined to get a proper answer from him that she didn't even notice that her brother's tone had slightly risen and that he was practically speaking through clenched teeth, "He has our ninja. And even ninja can't take on a full army like the one the Land of the River has."
"But then the River Lord could betray us at any time! How could Gaara be so careless as to..."
"Temari, listen to me!" Temari ceased her rambling and stared at Kankuro in surprise. He was glaring daggers at her, his eyes filled with annoyance. He knew that Gaara was many things, but when it came to this, careless was not one of them "Do you really think that Gaara would offer that fatass something as precious as his fellow ninja right off the bat? You think that he welcomed this crummy idea with open arms? Cause I sure as hell don't! If Gaara offered him something as big as this, it was either because he was desperate and had no other choice or as compensation for something else. Well, if we were that desperate, then the negotiations would've taken a lot shorter than it did, and the Lord of the River can only demand so much, so I'm guessing that this was compensation for something equal in value."
Through his speech, Kankuro had been able to calm himself, but his eyes still held a spark of anger.
Temari sort all that Kankuro had told her in her head before speaking again "But...what else could the Lord of the River want? What would be equal in value to this?" Kankuro just shrugged as he began to walk out of the large training arena.
"I'll let you decided that." But a few seconds after saying this, he paused.
The puppet master couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty for snapping at his sister. She didn't know, after all, and he couldn't tell her just what Gaara had done for her. So to soften the distracting feeling, he decided to at least drop her a hint.
"Just remember" he said, his back still facing her "that the Land of the River is pretty old-fashioned. And the old way of sealing an alliance between two countries, was through the marriage of a member from one ruling family to a member of the other. And I'm sure you can recall the Lord of the River's charming sons."
He then left her alone and let realization sink into to her.
It, instead, hit her like a ton of rocks.
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As Temari waited in the hall to be summoned into the Kazekage's office, she twitled her fingers nervously, trying to think over what she was going to say. Nearly jumping when the secretary informed her when she could go in, she took a long breath before she knocked on the door.
"Come in." she heard her brother's voice say. She opened the door and saw Gaara seated at his desk, signing the last few papers laid out in front of him. She shut the door behind her and waited patiently for him to look up at her.
"I was informed that you wanted to talk about the new peace agreements between the Land of the River and the Sand Village. I was told that you seemed very...upset about the matter. Though something tells me that was an understatement." He spoke in his usual calm, steady voice and still held a cold look of indifference, but his eyes displayed a very faint glimmer of interest in what she had to say.
"Lord Kazekage," she had to speak professionally to him, not only was she in his office, but she was discussing a serious political matter with her leader "I...I just wished to make you aware of a few things and express to you certain...concerns that I have." She waited and only began speaking again when he nodded for her to continue "I'm sure you know that long before I was the sister of the current Kazekage, I was the former Kazekage's daughter. All my life, I have been a member of a family in an important political position, and I have constantly been reminded that this makes me, in a way, a sort of...well...a kind of princess for lack of a better term."
This was the truth; when she was little, she had always been considered a type of royal figure. Her father and members of the council would tell her that as a...'princess' was what they used as an example...she would have duties unlike what normal ninja would have.
She would need to set an obedient example to the other people of Sand and dedicate her entire life solely to serving her country in any way she could, as a good princess must.
"And...I realize that a princess has certain obligations to her country that other people do not have. I understand that my life belongs to my country, to my village, to my people, and to my Kazekage." she swallowed and tried to calm her almost shaking form before she gathered up the courage to speak again "I am fully aware of what the old alliances would demand to signify a union between the involved countries and...I want you to know that...I...I am fully prepared to do my duty for my country."
At that she felt like screaming her head off, saying she didn't mean it at all.
She wanted to fling her body out the window and land head-first on the sand covered ground far below.
She DID NOT want to go through with this, but she also wanted what was best for her country. They were rather short on ninja, particarly at the moment, and she knew that the loss of one ninja would be better than losing many others.
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She had thought on this long and hard ever since her talk with Kankuro.
The thought of marrying either of the two repulsive boys almost made her vomit, and she knew that for the alliance to be final, the marriage would have to be...consumated. Children would also be expected and since that meant the same thing...Temari did throw up at that image.
She also thought about leaving her beloved home and ninja career to become an inhabitant and a noble of the Land of the River. Her whole life had been spent in a dry, warm climate and the humidity of the River Land had almost driven her crazy.
The culture and clothing was also very different from the Sand Villages and she knew that she could never get used to that awful, revealing clothing she would be required to wear.
Also, how that she couldn't ever bear to leave the excitement that the life of a ninja provided, despite how life-threating and dangerous it was?
And, for a reason she pretended she didn't know, she thought of a certain lazy boy genius lounging about somewhere in the Leaf Village. She thought of being a married woman and felt as if he would be completely and totally out of her reach. Her insides squirmed with a feeling of guilt, as if she was a traitor, and her legs felt as if they could no longer support her.
She pushed away the thought from her mind, but the feeling still remained deep in her heart.
On the other hand, she did know Masanori and Harumi, so at least she would have a couple of friends. She could always travel into the town to see them (or sneak out if she wouldn't be allowed). Perhaps they would become her students and she could even start an actual ninja school in...her new home.
Plus, she would have a family. Ever since she had spent time with the two River siblings, she had realized how much she truly wanted to become closer to her own siblings and act more like a family. But she had previously dismissed this faint hope long ago when she was a child.
At that time, she and Kankuro were so frightened around Gaara, that they were almost too scared to even breathe around him; even now, she and Kankuro couldn't take in a breath without worrying about how their younger brother would react.
So she had conviced herself that she would never have a 'real' family until she was married and started her own. This would, definitely, give her that chance.
Unfortunately, these minor upsides did little to comfort her. She was already happy teaching her students in the Sand Village, and she preferred her small family consisting of her and her two brothers rather than the revolting, pampered family the River Lord would provide.
But every feeling of reluctance and disgust she had about the subject was insignificant. It was her responsibility to give her life to her country and that was exactly what she would do, just in a different way.
Whoever said "Living for someone can be harder than dying for them" knew what they were talking about.
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Temari was sure that Gaara could hear her heart pounding against her ribs as he stared at her with calculating eyes. There was a long pregnant silence that seemed to squeeze the breath from her lungs and stimulate every nerve in her body with trepidation. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Kazekage spoke.
"Do you want to?"
It was a simple question, but Temari had been completely unprepared for it. She wasn't sure just what she had expected him to say, but certainly not this.
Did she want to?
NO! I'd rather drown myself!
"Of course, I want to serve my country as best I can." was her answer. She could have kicked herself and was shocked at how calm she sounded.
"That isn't what I meant, Temari." She watched as her Kazekage stood up and walked toward the window at the side of the room, looking out at the scene below him. "I want to know how you feel about this. Put loyalty and duty aside, and tell me how you tuly feel."
Temari was completely speechless.
Since when did Gaara of the Desert care how someone else felt?! Where was the collected, professional warrior she had come to know gone? Then again, where had the cold, blood crazy monster she had grown up with run off to?
He had been sucked out of her brother's body, that's where he had gone, and had left this new mysterious young man that Temari had yet to become familiar with.
She contemplated his question. If she put her loyalty and duty aside, what did she want?
Though she tried so hard to circumvent the truth, she knew that her answer was still, pretty much, the same. She bowed her head and tried to contain her saddness and frustration as she answered.
"Lord Kazekage, I love my village with all of my heart. As a princess, as a ninja, and as a citizen I want to do all I can for it. But..." she nearly choked on her words and tried to hold back the shame she knew would fill her "as a person, I want to be selfish. I don't...I don't want to..." she couldn't bring herself to continue.
With that out in the open, she knew that she had his answered his question with a 'negative.'
Again, there was silence, and again, Temari felt like strangling herself.
"You bring up an interesting point, Temari." she eventually heard the young leader say, his face still staring out the window "We are, in some sense, members of a royal family as well as a ninja. Our dedication, especially mine, belongs entirely to the Sand Village and to the welfare of it's people. As a royal and as Sand shinobi, it is my duty to serve my people in the best way possible." Temari was worried where the conversation was going, until the Kazekage turned his face to look at her "But as the member of a family, it is my responsibility to see that the other members are well cared for."
At once, Temari could see what Gaara was trying to tell her. As her 'King' and as her Kazekage, he wanted her to remain faithful to their country, but as her brother, he wanted her to be happy.
She looked up at her younger brother who was still looking at her with his serious face. As he continued speaking, she was able to translate his words into their true meaning.
"So, as your Kazekage, I will decide how you, and any other ninja, are best suited to serve your people."
As your brother, I will try to keep you and Kankuro happy with your lives.
"The ninja who are being sent to the Land of the River shall need to be replaced, so others will have to be trained. I'm entrusting some of them to you, but I still will need you to be available for other missions that may come up."
I want you to stay and do the things that you love.
"Furthermore, I expect you to continue your position as a usual emissary to the Land of Fire."
I know that you look forward to your visits to the Leaf Village, so I'll be sure to send you there any time I'm able to (Temari chose to ignore that, but the thought still made her heart lift).
"And, finally, " at this point, Gaara walked directly up to his sibling, looking her with an almost soft gaze, and this time Temari didn't even have to translate "if you have any more concerns, Elder Sister, don't be afraid to ask me directly."
At that moment, Temari felt like smiling and throwing her arms around her little brother, but she knew that it must have been difficult and awkward for Gaara to even think of putting those words together.
Her relationship with Gaara wasn't really any closer then it had previously been, but he had called her 'Elder Sister,' and for now that was enough.
"Well, I actually do have one more concern, Gaara." He knew the calling him by his name indicated that she wanted to speak to her brother, not the Kazekage "I was just wondering if you wanted to spend dinner with Kankuro and me after work. Don't worry!" she raised her hands defensively at his narrowed eyes "I'm not cooking. We'll go out."
Gaara gave her one last glance before he made his way back to his desk.
"I'll see if I can make it." he said, sitting down and picking his pen back up. "If that is all you wanted to talk about, Temari, then you're free to go."
Temari gave him a small smile before she straightened her posture and bowed, "Thank you, Lord Kazekage."
She then turned her heel and left her little brother to his work.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The smiling Sand kunoichi couldn't have been more relieved and, honestly, touched. Her brother hadn't sold her off to a foreign nation whose noble family she clearly abhorred and yet had still remained a true leader and given up something he truly cared about for the good of his people.
Thank you so much, Little Brother. I owe you big time!
As she walked down the hall, thinking about finding Kankuro and asking his opinion on where they should take their little brother out to eat, her mouth curved into an even bigger grin and she breathed in more deeply than she felt she ever had before.
(NOTE): If you got lost anywhere, just let me know!
BTW: I guess you can say there was an implied TemarixShikamaru in here, but please don't judge the fic based purely on any dislike you may have for the pairing ;). Also, I don't know who said that 'living harder than dying thing,' but I take no credit for that quote! And one more thing, I obviously put the TemaxShika thing in there because I like the pairing. If you like it too this is a fanart I drew of them:
(remove spaces): http://w w w . deviantart. com/ deviation /57960962/
Hope you enjoyed!