″Send him in″, Gaara said.
Kankuro stood up from his chair and silently opened the Kazekage's office door, allowing a waiting ninja to enter. Then both men walked towards the 5th Kazekage, the ninja stopped halfway while Kankuro continued until he stood behind his younger brother.
"How can I be of service to you, Lord Kazekage?" the ninja asked while bowing to his lord.
"Please, sit down", Gaara polity said, all the while not making eye contact. All his attention instead went to a recent report he'd just recieved. It was a report from his sister Temari, the ambassador of Sunagakure in Konohagakure. Although the report was like all the other reports he would every day receive, it still bothered him. And because of that Gaara had one of his best shinobi come to him today. He was about to ask the shinobi to do something very important for him, his brother and perhaps even all of Suna. And thus Gaara didn't want to give the ninja a glimpse of how looked while doing so. After all he was the 5th Kazekage, and looking worried or troubled wasn't the right way of how a Kazekage should present himself towards others, he thought to himself.
Gaara put down the report on his desk, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and when he finally opened his eyes again he spoke again, "Do you know why you are here?"
"I assumed it is for a mission."
"You guessed right, but bear in mind that this is won't be an ordinary mission."
"What do you mean sir?" the shinobi calmly asked, although there was a little curiosity in his voice.
"I mean that is this mission isn't like the usual A or S-rank missions. This mission will be… different, you could say it is going to be one of those… grey area missions. You are free to decline this mission before I reveal it's details. It's a one man job and if you were to be caught… then we must claim that you acted on your own. But of all the jonin we have, I do believe that you are most fitted for the job." Gaara didn't like this precaution of disowning one of his own ninja, but considering the details of the mission, it was the only way to safeguard Sunagakure's involment in case of failure.
The jonin immediately stood up from his chair and kneeled before the Kazekage with his head down. "Lord Kazekage, I am more than willing to give my life and honor for you and Sunagakure. Tell me what I have to do and I shall do it."
The Kazekage once again took his time, staring at one of the papers of Temari's report, however his mind seemed absent. So the jonin looked to his older brother right of him, but Kankuro was also looking at the Kazekage, with a concerned impression on his face, before turning his eyes back at the jonin. Both he and the Kazekage made an uptight impression.
Gaara now for the first time made eye contact with the jonin before speaking again, "It is of the utmost importance that, what I am about to tell you stay's between us. Is that clear"? His voice was strict and the look in his eyes were sharp.
"Of course sir."
"As you probably know, my sister Temari, has been our ambassador to Konohagakure for quite a while now", Gaara started.
"Yes lord Kazekage."
"When I first appointed Temari to be our ambassador to Konohagakure, she was very bothered with my decision. At first I didn't really mind, I had other things like the Akatsuki to worry about, and the appointment would only be temporary. However, when I found a person who could perpetually fill the position a few weeks later, she suddenly didn't seem to be bothered with it at all anymore. As a matter of fact she even insisted on becoming the Konohagakure ambassador permanently. But Temari was very vague in why. 'I am already familiar with the job, so sending someone new will slow things down' she said." Gaara stopped then, his mind seemed once more absent, thinking about his sister.
"Doesn't this all simply mean that she liked the job more then she expected? The jonin suddenly interrupted. He didn't understand why the Kazekage would summon him, just to concern him about his sisters job. "After all it is a great an honor to serve as an ambassador."
Gaara didn't seem to be affected by the jonin's idea, his face was just as expressionless as it had been when he began speaking. He gave the jonin an understanding look and continued, "I thought so too in the beginning . But after a while I started to notice that Temari used every opportunity that involved Konohagakure as a reason to go Konohagakure,' I am just doing my duty' was her usual excuse. However the time she would spend their started to increase. From a couple of days before the war to a couple of weeks after the war." Gaara calmly explained. "It didn't make any to me or Kankuro. I can't think of any reason why she would suddenly be growing so strong towards Konohagakure, expect…" And for a second the jonin noticed, Gaara closed his eyes, as if he was going to confess something very deep inside of him.
"I want you to travel to Konohagakure… to investigate if my sister is still loyal to Sunagakure."
The jonin's eyes where wide open as he gave the Kazekage a confessed look, did… did he hear that right? The Kazekage didn't make direct eye contact and Kankuro tried to keep a neutral face, but the jonin could still see the insecurity and trouble in it. He was familiar with 'grey area' missions, but this was completely out of the blue. The idea that lady Temari, Temari the cruelest kunoichi, the Kazekage's sister, would somehow turn away or against Suna, was unimaginable. "S… Sir, you cannot really believe that…" The jonin mumbled, but he immediately fell still when he saw the Kazekage.
"I didn't let you come here so I could hear your advice." The Kazekage's spoke in a calm way, but his voice was getting louder and angrier, "You are here because I want you to investigate my own sister's strange behavior. I want you to tell me why is isn't her anymore, why she isn't spending much time with use anymore. Why she doesn't look me or Kankuro in the eyes anymore when we ask her if something is wrong, even though I know damm well that something is wrong! Why she keeps dogging us every time we bring up her behavior. Why she used to be so energetic and always ready to help with missions and advice, while now she just seems to do missions to take her mind of something. Why every time we speak of Konohagakure her minds seems to go blank." The kazekage's fists were clenched and his facial expression finally showed some emotion, held in anger that was.
There was a moment of silence, no one moved or said anything. The jonin was still kneeling and clearly stunned by what had just happened. Kankuro who had been silent the whole time, still standing behind Gaara and looked upset.
Gaara continued, his voice had returned to its usual calmness again."I have gone through so much with my brother and sister… I used to feel nothing for Kankuro and Temari, and they even fear me. Later when Naruto saved me, I changed and we finally became more of a family. For the first time I felt safe it them, I felt like I could be who I was without fear. Later when I was kidnapped by the Akatsuki, Temari immediately rushed back to rescue me, Kankuro almost died when he fought Sansori, both of them risked their lives for me. Since then we have really become brothers and sister. If Temari would ever find out, she would without a single doubt distrust me forever."
"I have thought about this so much, countless night I found myself thinking why the things are like they are now. And countless times I thought that I was over reacting, that I still had that paranoia when I was… different. But this is my sister we are talking about, and together with my brother they are the only family I have. And I am NOT going to take chances with my family, I there is something wrong I need to know it, I need to be able to protect them. I just can't lose any one ells."
The jonin now knew why the Kazekage didn't look at him, he was afraid about his sister's loyalty, uncertain if she still was there for him and his brother. The Kazekage was trying to hid this vulnerability, after all Gaara was his leader, he had to be the one everybody else looked up to.
But the jonin didn't blame Gaara for his suspicions, he knew how much the Suna siblings had withstood and suffered, all of Sunagakure knew. He could understand why the Kazekage was acting so strange, why he needed certainty about his own sister. If it would have been anyone ells in Sunagakure it wouldn't have been that big a deal. The suspect would be dealt with and in case of betrayal, killed and replaced by countless others. But this was his sister, his family, and family can not be replaced once it's gone. It is not easy to ignore the idea that someone you love, perhaps doesn't feel the same back anymore.
And then there were the political consequences, how could Gaara continue to lead Sunagakure if not even his own sister would follow him? His rivals would see this as an opportunity to get rid of him, and most importantly this could mean a new war. If lady Temari were to defect from Sunagakure, then what would she do next? Defecting to Konohagakure seemed the most logical to the jonin, after all her continues presence there was the reason the Kazekage was so suspicious in the first place. Konohagakure could greatly profit from the information lady Temari could provide them about Suna… no nonsense he thought to himself. Konohagakure was there most important ally, so no there had to be something ells.
This might be perhaps the most important mission he would ever receive. He was to travel to Konohagakure, which was quite a risk itself, because they aren't going to let a jonin from another village just walk in on his own. Then he would have to spy on Temari, the Kazekage's sister, one of Suna's finest jonin, the cruelest Kunoichi and the best wind user of the former Fourth Division. Not to mention the consequences if his investigation would be wrong. And if lady Temari would ever find out about this, then the results would be disastrous. If the Kazekage wouldn't even trust his own sister then why would he trust anyone? Both the trust between the Kazekage and Temari and trust between the Kazekage and the Suna shinobi would break.
"Very well lord Kazekage, I will leave to Konohagakure immediately and I shall report back the moment I find something out." The jonin stood up and continued, "And rest assure Lord Kazekage that I will take everything you have told me with me to the grave."
"I don't expect any less", the Kazekage replied, as if nothing had happened. "I have a report ready for you that contains all the information you will need for the investigation" Gaara took the report he had on his desk and gave it to the jonin as he approached his desk. It was a collection of the reports Temari had been sending him lately about Konoha. " You are also authorized to use violence if necessary. Except against my sister, then I will have to kill you, understood ?"
"Yes, lord Kazekage," the jonin said, he then bowed and left, preparing for his upcoming mission.
"I could have done it." Kankuro said after the jonin left, "You didn't need to involve another person into this, it's none of his business."
"You would be instantly recognized" Gaara calmly replied, ""You lead the Surprise Attack Division, remember?"
"Do you really think it was a good idea to tell him about it", Kankuro continued , "What if gets captured and interrogated ? What would Naruto or the Hokage think of us ?"
"People like him don't get captured", Gaara answered. "That is why I chose him out of all the jonin we have."
"If you say so."
Although Gaara was confided in the jonin, he still closed his eyes and imagined what Naruto would say if he'd ever find out. Gaara had the utmost respect for him but even that did not weight to the willingness he had to look after his own sister.