[Okay, so I decided to make it a GaaSaku. I thought it'd be cute! This IS supposed to have some humor in it, and it's supposed to be cute overall. It's not dramatic, or anything. At least not for now.. Fufufufu.]
One of Them
"Dire Need Of Assistance."
Gaara sighed.
Suna's Hospital was in need. There were many more patients than there were healers, and there were no medics in Suna advanced enough to teach the art of healing. What was he going to do? He needed to get the hospital back onto its feet again. He knew that teaching the art of medical ninjutsu would take time, but even beginners could heal simple things, right?
Gaara sighed again. He didn't want to let the rest of the council members know about this.. They would cause a huge scene and they'd have several meetings over it, fighting and arguing with one another and not getting anywhere. He knew it would happen.
"Izumi!" he called, and the little old man walked in the door. "Yes, Kazekage-sama?"
"Get me the translation department."
The man's face showed curiosity, but he didn't question, and left the room quickly.
Gaara laid his head on his desk, sighing. He closed his eyes. This was one of the times he wished he weren't alone. He'd gotten used to being alone, yes; but that didn't lessen the pain. He'd been alone for eighteen years. He didn't want to be alone anymore.
He ran his not-fully-formed-plan through his head. Konoha and Suna had formed a strong alliance with one another ever since Gaara became Kazekage, and he knew that the Leaf Village had a good supply of medic nin. He was hoping that the Hokage would let Suna make use of their best medic nin, and in turn supply Sand's aid in anything they might need.
He lifted his head from the desk as the door opened. Izumi followed a girl with brown hair and glasses through the door, and he shut it behind him. "Anything needed, Kazekage-sama?" asked the girl, and her voice was filled with fearful respect.
"Yes," he replied. "I need you to code a letter as soon as I'm done writing it. I want to have it sent immediately."
The girl nodded, and immediately Gaara took paper and pen and began to write.
Hokage,
Suna's hospital is in dire need. I request the tutelage of your finest medic nin upon the doctors here in Suna. We shall aid with anything your village requires in return.
Kazekage
Gaara quickly handed the paper to the girl. It wasn't very good, but it got the point across, and that's what Gaara aimed for. The girl nodded and ran out the door, paper in her hands.
"What is the letter for, if I may ask, Kazekage-sama?" Izumi asked.
Gaara glanced at the man, before setting his pen down slowly. He took a deep breath, and let it out. "Don't tell the other council members. It's urgent, but it's not a huge deal, and if they find out about it, they'll blow it out of proportion."
Izumi nodded in understanding. "Hai, Kazekage-sama."
"Well, I got a report just yesterday that our Hospital is struggling. More injured are coming in than can be helped, and our medic nin aren't specialized enough to handle some of the injuries patients have. I just sent a letter to Tsunade, Hokage of Konoha to send their best medic nin to train our own."
"Ah," Izumi said, nodding quietly. Gaara respected Izumi for the fact that he wasn't like the council members. Though he could be frumpy and pushy sometimes, Gaara's advisor was understanding and wanted what was best for the village, just like Gaara did. That was how he was different from the advisors.
Izumi soon left the room, and Gaara was alone once again. Putting a few fingers to the kanji on his forehead, he pondered what the elderly lady the day before had said.
Love.
He didn't know what love meant. It was forever embedded into the skin on his forehead, and he didn't know what it meant.
He could always look it up, or ask someone, but every person in the world would have a different definition on the subject. He knew this because they'd experienced love in different ways.
No one could give him the right definition of love. He had to make his own definition, he had to experience it himself to know what love meant.
The real question was, did he want to find out what love was? Did he want to get himself into something he knew nothing about?
He didn't really know. He occasionally listened to Temari when she babbled about her social life, and he remembered her mentioning several times that love sucked. Other times he remembered hearing her rant on and on about how amazing love was. Did it really have good and bad sides?
Of course it did. Everything on the planet had a good and bad side. He himself was one of the largest examples he knew. Gaara wasn't sure, however, if he wanted to get into something that could hurt so much.
As he pondered this, he fell into an uneasy sleep.
Tsunade, Hokage of Konohagakure no Satou in the Land of Fire, was snoring loudly, drooling onto the paperwork she was supposed to be doing at that moment. She, however, was so damn tired that she couldn't help but fall asleep.
Someone burst in through the door and she jerked up, yelling curses and looking around. A paper was stuck to her face, her eyes wide as she looked for intruders.
Shizune smiled sheepishly and pulled the paper from the blonde woman's face, and Tsunade mumbled a "Thanks."
"Lady Tsunade, there's a message from Suna waiting to be decoded down in the translation department." Shizune said.
"Get it decoded immediately." Tsunade ordered. "I want it sent to me as soon as it's done."
Shizune bowed. "Hai!"
Tsunade went back to her paperwork, mumbling something about the lack of sake as Shizune ran out the door.
Down in the translation department, Shizune went to the head of the department, a red-headed woman named Naoko. "Naoko-san, the Hokage ordered the letter be decoded immediately!" she said, panting from the run.
"Hai!" Naoko nodded, and left the desk, rounding up some interpreters.
Shizune watched as they gathered the translation scrolls, and set to work. They decoded each kanji, writing it on a blank scroll.
It took almost an hour to decode the damn scroll. Shizune was jerked awake, having almost fallen asleep. Naoko handed her the scroll. "Here."
Shizune took the scroll, wiped the sleep from her eyes, and ran off in the direction of the Hokage tower.
She burst in the door, and…
… Tsunade had fallen asleep, again.
"Lady Tsunade! You're slacking off on your duties again!" Shizune yelled, exasperated.
Tsunade jerked up, looking around. "Who?! Where?! Kakashi, give me ba— ..Oh." She peeled the paper from her face and looked at Shizune innocently. "Whaaat?"
Shizune slapped her forehead.
"What's wrong? Why are you here?" Tsunade asked, suddenly serious.
"Oh!" Shizune remembered the scroll, and pulled it out of her robe. She handed it to Tsunade.
After reading the scroll, Tsunade sat back in her chair. Shizune read the look on her face. 'She's in thinking mode.'
