Disclaimer: I own none of the characters besides Yuri and her family members.
Yuri knew she was in trouble when she heard her mother's scream.
„Hamata Yuri, come here!"
With a demure expression on her face she entered their kitchen and met her mother's furious glare.
„You've been fired from your job… again! It's the third job you lost in the last two month. What do you have to say for yourself?" Hamata Aiko asked her daughter.
Yuri let out a sigh and told her mother: „Listen, I really liked the job at the hotel but my boss kept harassing me. Last night he grabbed my butt and I slapped him. That's why I was fired."
Aiko look grim. „It can't go on like that. You're not a child anymore. You'll be 20 years old in 3 month. I love you but you know the ultimatum your father gave you. Now you will have to leave. He's already making preparations."
The young woman swallowed hard. This couldn't be.
Yes, her father had given her an ultimatum. He said she had to earn her living if she wanted to stay with them.
And if she didn't keep this maid job at the hotel, he would send her away to his sister in Suna.
Yuri liked her aunt Hana but she didn't want to leave her home.
Aiko continued: „You will work at Hana's tea house. Be good, please."
She pulled her daughter into an embrace and cried some silent tears.
Two days later Hayata Hana stood before the leader of her home village, Sunagakure.
Kazekage Gaara was a good and kind leader. He was highly respected and admired, though he was only twenty years old.
In the five years he'd been Kazekage he had done so much.
Now Hana was there to ask his permission to have her niece transferred from Iwagakure to Suna.
„Kazekage- sama, Yuri is my brother's daughter. She's 19 years old and she has had some bad luck. She is just a young woman trying to find her way."
Gaara nodded: „It shouldn't be a problem."
Hana thanked him and left.
Yuri was tired. It was late afternoon.
She and her father were waiting at the premeditated meeting spot where Shinobis from Sunagakure would pick her up.
Her aunt Hana had paid for this little service because she and her husband were too occupied at their tea house to meet her personally.
Yuri knew she would be a big help to them and she actually looked forward to see Suna.
She'd heard a lot about the village and the Kage whenever her aunt and uncle had visited Iwa.
The team from Suna arrived soon. They were two man and one woman.
Yuri hugged her father goodbye and left with them.
The remaining journey had been quiet.
Now Yuri was in a little room in her aunt's house. This room would be hers for as long as she'd be living with aunt Hana and uncle Kenji.
It was really nice as was the whole house but Yuri already thought about getting her own place.
The young woman laid down on her new bed and sighed contentedly while she fell asleep.
The Kazekage listened to the report the pick up team gave him. As expected the mission had been easy.
The team had included his older sister Temari. After the other two had left he asked her for her opinion of the Hamata woman.
„She was quiet the whole way because she was clearly exhausted. But she seemed nice enough. I guess we'll find out more in the next days." the blonde woman shrugged. „Now let's get home, I'm hungry."
The next morning went by in a blur. Working at the tea house was fun and the customers were nice.
Yuri waited tables and in between serving tea and answering good humored questions she listened to Hana's praise of the Kazekage.
The young woman was already curious about him.
Shortly after lunchtime Yuri was in the storage room when the doorbells jingled and she heard uncle Kenji exclaim.
„Temari, welcome. I hope you are well?"
„Thank you, Kenji. I'm really fine. I'd like some tea, please."
„Of course, please be seated. Hana said you were leading the team that picked up our niece?"
At that moment Yuri came back from the storage room.
She bowed to the blonde woman she'd met the day before.
„Welcome! My name is Yuri. What kind of tea would you like?"
The woman introduced herself: „Hello Yuri, I'm Temari and I'd like jasmine tea. A pot with two cups, please."
Yuri hurried away to fulfill the order when the doorbells sounded again and a red- headed young man walked in and over to Temari.
The gourd strapped to his back clued Yuri in to whom this must be.
Kenji rushed over to greet the man which gave his niece a chance to have a good look at the newcomer unobserved.
His black- ringed eyes were a unique shade of turquoise and the tousled red mass of hair looked soft.
He didn't have eyebrows but that didn't divert from his gorgeous face.
God, but he was hot!
The tea was ready, Yuri put the pot and two cups on a tray and carried it over to the table.
„Uncle, the tea." she whispered, coming to a stop behind Kenji.
The large man whipped around and waved her forward to introduce her.
„Kazekage- sama, this is our niece Yuri. Yuri, this is our honorable Kazekage."
The young woman sat the tray on the table and bowed low.
„Kazekage- sama, I'm very pleased to meet you."
Gaara watched her bow to him and scrutinized her closely.
She was just a little bit shorter than himself, her body was hour- glass shaped. Her emerald green eyes held warmth and her shoulder length black hair was gleaming.
„Yuri, welcome to Suna. I hope you will like our climate, it's quite different from Iwa's, I believe?"
She blushed a little and answered in the affirmative.
Then more customers came in and she excused herself to serve them.
Gaara watched her and he liked that she served all customers with the same courtesy she had shown him.
During the half hour the Kazekage and his sister stayed at their table, Yuri felt the siblings observing her. Every now and then customers would approach them and respectful talk to the young leader of the village.
The waitress could see why the villagers liked the red- head.
He listened patiently to them and answered calmly their questions. None of them left the table without looking happy and content.
Yuri became even more curious about Gaara but she kept a professional distance.
Her curiosity reached a peek the next morning. While she was still at breakfast with her relatives a messenger came and she was summoned to the Kazekagetower.
Her aunt beamed at her when she left the house with the young female messenger.
Nervously she debated with herself to ask if the Shinobi who accompanied her knew the reason for the summon but she decided against it.
Whatever the reason she would find out soon.
Gaara sat behind his desk reading over some scrolls when a knock sounded on the door.
„Come in" he called out and the door opened to reveal Yuri and the Shinobi who had been sent to fetch her.
„Thank you, Matsuri. That will be all." he adressed the Shinobi and she left.
The Kazekage stood and walked to stand in front of the desk.
„Good morning, Yuri- san. Thank you for coming directly. I have some questions, if you don't mind?"
„Of course, Kazekage- sama." she said with a bow. „Please ask anything you want or need to know."
He gestured for her to sit on the couch that stood against one of the walls and she obeyed readily.
„What your aunt didn't mention when she came to speak with me was if you've ever had tested your chakra levels."She swallowed hard before answering. „Yes, I was tested at the age of five. According to the medics who did the tests I had rather high chakra levels. But somehow I am not able to tap into these resources and we were never able to find out why."
„Would you have wanted to become a ninja if it would have been possible?" the read- head asked.
„Very much so." she answered truthfully. Yuri chuckled when she continued. „To tell the truth, I'd always dreamed of becoming a medic nin. But it wasn't to be."
Gaara nodded and was lost in thoughts for a few moments while the woman in front of him waited patiently.
Then he looked at her intensely and said: „I'm sure you heard about the medic skills of Konoha's Hokage, Tsunade?"
After getting her nod he continued. „Years ago she trained a young woman, named Haruno Sakura and she turned out to be a prodigy. Sakura will visit Suna next week for a month long stay to work with our medics. Maybe she could examine you and find out about your inability to use your chakra, maybe even find a solution. If anyone can, it's her. What do you think?"
Yuri stared so hard at him she was sure her eyes would pop out of her head.
She didn't know what to say, opened and closed her mouth several times to answer but was to stunned by this offer.
Of course it was more probable that even the Konoha medic couldn't help her but this chance was so tempting.
„Thank you, Kazekage- sama. You are very kind. I don't want to sound ungrateful but could I think about it a few days? Right now I'm too overwhelmed to decide."
„Sure, Yuri- san. Take your time." he answered kindly.
After the young woman had left he sat back behind his desk and thought about what he'd just done.
Gaara hoped desperately that he hadn't raised Yuri's hopes to only have them crushed later if Sakura couldn't find a cure.
A/N: This is my first try at a Fanfiction written in English, my native language is German. I hope I found all typos, spelling and grammar errors. If not, please feel free to point them out. Critic is welcome, without knowing what I do wrong I can't get any better. ;)