I just felt like writing about the Sand Siblings...

I wonder why...

coughcoughI-LOVE-GAARA!HE-IS-MINE!coughcough

Subtlety is a fabulous thing which I do not possess...

And I was planning on this being a Sand Sib fic but... I don't know... I can't help but write romances. -sighs-. Anyway, it's going to be a GaaraxHinata. A couple I neither particularly like nor hate. It's cute.

-in denial- I AM TOO A NINJA!!!!!!! SHUT UP!

"Good moooooooooooorning, sleepyheeeeeeeead!" sang Temari as she flounced into Gaara's room and flung open the curtains, instantly filling the previously dark room with the bright sun of Sunagakure mornings. "A lovely day to be a Kazekage, don't you think? I think so!"

"Excuse me?" said a voice from under a pillow.

"I said, GET UP, GAARA!" yelled Temari, experiencing a severe mood swing that made Gaara shiver- Gaara, who was perpetually protected by the ultimate defense, a moving shield of sand that caused all attacks toward him to fail miserably.

Gaara sat up, slightly dazed looking from the change. He ought to be used to it, he realized. By now, at least.

"Good," said Temari. Then she left, calling out behind her, "I made breakfast. It's downstairs, and if you take too long it'll get cold. And remember, if you don't get totally ready by seven, I can't give you a ride, and then you have to do the swirl-into-sand-transport-jutsu, and you know how well that works over the long distance it is from here to the Kazekage building." Gaara inspected his slightly crooked and short left thumb. It had never been quite right since he'd overslept that one time...

The door slammed shut. Gaara heard her begin a similar wake-up process for Kankuro. He got dressed and walked downstairs, making sure his gourd was by the door, which was where he always put it on arriving home.

Ignoring the screams of pain from Kankuro's room (not being a Sand Jinchuuriki, Kankuro did not possess the sand shield to protect himself from the kunai Temari threw at those who did not wake up on time) Gaara ate breakfast (Temari was a good cook- today was waffles, one of Gaara's favorites even though he was not fond of sweet things).

Kankuro, already weary-looking, practically fell down the stairs and collapsed in a chair, barely managing to state in an understandable way, "Good morning, Gaara," through a mouth full of waffles. When they finished, Kankuro returned upstairs to apply his usual face-paint (no one, not even Gaara, was allowed to call it makeup- no one).

Gaara went and sat by the door.

6:40.

Right on time.

He waited.

Kankuro would be arriving at exactly 6:59 so he could get a ride, too, so Gaara would wait for exactly 19 minutes, as always. And as always, he made swirly patterns on the floor with his sand to amuse himself- something that also amused the children of the village. They were forever begging "Would you please show us your sand tricks, Kazekage-sama?" at which their parents would tell them to hush. The people who were afraid of him glared at him and dragged their protesting children away. He always would do it anyway, it was much more relaxing than signing papers, and he might even call it fun to see their smiles.

"Gaara! How many times do I have to tell you? Don't do that!" yelled a furious Temari (as she always did. Every day.). Gaara sighed.

"Sorry, Temari," he said. Her anger was quenched as he pulled all the sand out of the floor. "Happy?"

"Yes, that's fine," she said, relaxing.

6:59.

"I'm ready!" shouted Kankuro, hopping down the stairs and pulling on his shoes at the same time. If Gaara ever laughed, he would have done so at the moment Kankuro did a face-plant onto the stair landing.

He got up, and straightened himself. "Right! Let's go," he said.

Temari led them out, locking the door behind them.

And such was a usual Sand Sibling morning.

-Kazekage Offices-

"Kazekage-sama, I apologize, but there are more papers," said the short woman who brought him in a stack to sign. She plunked the large stack onto the table, and turned around to leave.

"That's fine," sighed Gaara, swirling his sand on the ground, and parting it so she could walk back without slipping.

So. Much. Papers. Gaara felt almost like he was suffocating, drowning in paperwork. The door opened again.

A different, taller girl walked in with a large pile, and, bowing, promptly dropped them on the floor with the shuffling sound that papers make. Her blue-black hair (Gaara wondered if it was dyed, but then looked at her and realized that she wasn't really the type for that kind of vanity. Anyway, if she was, she probably would have dyed it blonde. Most people, if they dyed their hair, dyed it blonde.)

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, and looking up at him to gauge his reaction, he saw that her eyes were a pale lavender color, and though for the most part her skin was pale, her cheeks were a bright, embarrassed red.

Most unusual. And more importantly, that was a Leaf headband around her neck. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place her. Possibly from the Chuunin exams...

She stuttered, "I'm here on b-business from the Leaf, and that woman who works out there asked if I could take these in to you, and she seemed so busy and she asked so politely it would have been rude to refuse and I'm so sorry!" she added again, upon seeing his usual placid-almost-frowning expression.

"It's fine," Gaara said, and, feeling sorry for her, went to help her pick up the papers.

"Oh, no, Kazekage-sama! I can do it, I'll pick them up, I dropped them in the first place..."

He made no reply, simply picking up the papers and stacking them neatly. She didn't look at him, but picked up papers speedily and talked fast. Once or twice Gaara heard her voice break as though she might cry, and he allowed himself the small vain idea that she was scared/nervous/worried because he was someone to make a good impression for, as one of the five great Kages.

"I- I came here in place of Shikamaru... I'm sure you know him... Um, anyway, Shikamaru would have delivered this message but he's on a mission, and, well, um, Tsunade-sama explained is all in the letter, so, um..." She pulled out a small scroll from her pocket. "Here!" she presented it to him holding it with both hands as though afraid it might break and bowing her head, presumably so she wouldn't have to look into his face. Gaara, however, could still tell she was an interesting (at the least) shade of fuschia.

"Thank you, Miss..." She hadn't yet introduced herself.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. It's because I know you already... But I don't think you would remember me... Do you remember the Chuunin exams in Konoha? Um, I know you from them, you were kind of..."

She turned even pinker.

"Strange?" he offered dryly, tilting his head to one side and lifting what would have been an eyebrow, had he had one. "Spooky?"

Biting her lip, she nodded. She still looked like she was going to cry.

"That's fine," he said, dismissing it. He was different now. She surprised him by immediately understanding this.

"But- But you're different now, nice..." she said. "Naruto said so... He thinks about you a lot, you know... At least I think so. He doesn't always talk about you, but, you know, when you became Kazekage... He was so shocked... A little mad, a little jealous. And then... he went and saved you, from what I heard. Anyway, um, he said to say hi."

Gaara was quite pleased to hear this, and asked her to send Naruto greetings as well. She turned pink.

It was at that moment Gaara realized something. He'd never been very good with people, and very few had put up with him for very long (Kankuro, Temari, Baki, and Matsuri being pretty much the only ones that actually sought out his company while knowing his past). Gaara, however, knew enough about people to know that they sometimes developed feelings- referred to as "crushes", although he'd never liked the word, it reminded him too much of his Sand Coffin and frankly, he didn't really want to think of love like that. But this girl was majorly, majorly "crushing" on Naruto.

At least he has one fan, Gaara thought, remembering how very little Naruto was liked among his peers.

Then he remembered the topic at hand. He shook his head, as though shrugging off the pause of polite exchanges. "Sorry... your name?"

"Oh! I'm Hyuuga Hinata, nice to meet you, Lord Kazekage!" she said, offering her hand for him to shake. A Hyuuga. Practically Konoha royalty. She was not a Miss, she was a Lady.

Gaara sighed inwardly. Oh, heavens. She was probably sheltered and sweet and all things that women of royalty were supposed to be. Which basically meant she would be annoying. He shook her hand. If that was the case, why did she like Naruto quite so much?

"Same to you, Lady Hinata," he said.

She turned pink at this title, and Gaara figured his assumptions would prove right about the girl.

"Anyway, Lord Kazekage, I was sent here to deliver this message, so, here you go," Hinata said, pulling out a scroll, biting her thumb and summoning... another scroll, which she handed to him. "It's supposed to be delivered in person, and I am really not sure what it is about. She said that you would know what to do once you read the letter, and..." her voice trailed off, and he opened it...

Ooooooooooh... cliffhanger! What does Tsunade's letter say???????????

Please review! Seriously, reviews make me more eager to write!

Flames are accepted... (although they make me cry in my little emo corner... although if you're right, I won't call it a flame.)... I'm in a good mood today.

-starts dancing-

Thanks for reading!