Chapter 2: Skating On Thin Ice

(Warning- some bad language)

"Mmnng". Gaara shifted in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes before angrily snapping them shut again. The morning sunlight filtering through the window was blinding. He groaned again and slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead. He was able to sleep now that Shukaku no longer inhabited his body, and he hated having to wake up.

He hauled himself out of bed and stretched. The sunlight bathed the pale skin of his naked body. Black rimmed aqua eyes scanned the face of the clock on the wall and then glanced at the gourd propped up in the corner of the room. Gaara sloped off into the bathroom to shower. The hot water stung his skin at first. He closed his eyes and focussed his attention inwards. The same emptiness as always. He'd achieved his goal and he'd been Kazekage for a couple of years now, but he was still trying to adjust to his new life. A dreary void filled his soul where something was missing. He was lonely. Of course, he had his siblings, but he didn't really have any friends to speak of. Some of the older villagers were still cold towards him and probably always would be, and Gaara was cold back to them. He had trouble getting close to people, or rather, he didn't know HOW to get close to them.

He got out of the shower and scrubbed his wet body with a towel before roughly towel drying his hair. Tufts of hair stuck out from his head in different directions like a crimson explosion. A few wet locks stuck to his forehead and face. He started pulling on his clothes.

His thoughts turned to his sister, Temari, and the look in her eyes whenever she was with that Shikamaru guy from Konoha. Gaara thought it was dumb…but still…secretly he ached for someone to look at him like that.

He straightened up, now fully dressed, and caught sight of himself in the mirror. His eyes settled on the kanji on his forehead. As if anyone would ever feel that way about me, he thought, and set out for work. First on today's agenda was a meeting regarding village defenses and the curriculum at the academy.

Konoha

"So…Naoko's on her way to Suna, huh?" Kakashi slouched casually against the Hokage's desk.

"Hmm" Tsunade replied, sharing a knowing glance with the silver haired Jonin.

Both of them knew that Naoko's and Gaara's temperaments would clash. The Kazekage's stoic, cold authority would rile the free-spirited, feisty engineer to no end, and the question remained as to whether Gaara could handle Naoko's impertinent attitude. There was bound to be explosions.

Kakashi chuckled. "Gaara may end up regretting his decision to stop killing people"

Tsunade smiled. "Naoko's a funny one. But she may do him some good. He needs to lighten up. I can only imagine some of the stupid situations she'll get him into. I just wish I could be there to see it". The two of them laughed

They were silent for a few seconds. Tsunade's smile disappeared.

"On a more serious note, how is the situation regarding Naoko's safety? Do they know her whereabouts?"

Kakashi grimaced. "No. At least that's what my sources tell me. Naoko moves from place to place, never settling anywhere for too long. That way, they can't track her down. She's always one step ahead" He paused, stretching out. He stood up straight before replacing his hands in his pockets and continuing, "She's a smart girl. She'll be ok".

"But one day she may want to stop running. And then what happens?" The Hokage said softly.

Kakashi flinched as he recalled the fate of his sister, Naoko's mother. Naoko's family had been murdered in revenge by another clan when Naoko was ten years old. Clan warfare was fairly common, but this had been a particularly fierce and blood-soaked vendetta. The rival clan had vowed to extinguish the Kekkei Genkai that Naoko's father carried. The same Kekkei Genkai that made Naoko such a skilled electrical engineer. But she had escaped her family's fate, and was the only survivor.

"We'll deal with that when it happens" Kakashi said quietly. "For now, she's ok".

Suna

It was a warm, hazy afternoon when Naoko and Yuki finally reached Suna. The long journey hadn't bothered them much, they were used to travelling. They had been met by a Jonin at the gates of the village. He had purple paint on his face and was dressed in black. Strapped to his back was a large, elongated object wrapped in bandages. It resembled a mummy. Yuki eyed the object cautiously. Naoko screwed up her nose in curiosity.

"Hey! You're the electrical engineers, right?" he said. A goofy smile appeared on his face, but he seemed kind enough.

"Follow me, I'll escort you to the Kazekage's office".

The two girls trudged alongside him, taking in the sights of the village. Naoko was right: there WAS a lot of sand.

"So who are you?" Naoko asked abruptly.

"Oh! Uh…I'm Sabaku No Kankuro. And you?"

"Naoko. Naoko Imamura. And this is Yuki" Yuki gave a little smile. Kankuro nodded in response.

"The Kazekage is my little brother" he said with a chuckle.

"Your little brother?!" Yuki gawped in disbelief. "Y…You mean…he's young? Younger than you?"

"Well, I guess the old man theory just went out the window" Naoko smirked.

Kankuro raised his eyebrows questioningly. I won't ask, he thought. "He can be a little bad tempered sometimes, but I'm sure you'll be fine"

Yuki gave Naoko a worried look. Naoko just grinned.

Kankuro led the two girls towards a huge building situated at the heart of the village. The three of them ascended a flight of steps and entered a large entrance hall that thronged with activity. There were ninjas of various ranks, all going about their daily business. A large Sand village symbol adorned the back wall. Kankuro glanced around and waved to someone across the room.

"Hey Kankuro! Gaara's in a crappy mood, so don't piss him off!" a voice called.

Kankuro sighed heavily. "My older sister, Temari"
The two girls looked in her direction. She was a pretty blond kunoichi with uncompromising eyes. A large fan was strapped to her back.

"God almighty…mummies…fans…this gets weirder" Naoko muttered.

They climbed a flight of stairs and turned a corner to be faced by yet more stairs. They reached the top and came to a long corridor, with more corridors branching from it. The place was a maze. A real labyrinth. After three more flights of stairs, the trio snaked through a wide passageway and halted in front of a door.

"Here goes!" Kankuro said. He knocked on the door.

"Enter" came the reply in a low rumble.

The voice made Yuki jump nervously. Even Naoko was a little nervous when she heard it. Excited…she scolded herself…not nervous…excited.

Kankuro slid the door open and addressed the Kazekage sloppily.

"Hey! The engineers are here"

Yuki stepped into the room first, albeit reluctantly. She let out a small gasp when she saw the Kazekage. He was young, maybe the same age as Naoko and herself…and he looked dangerous. His eyes met hers and she quickly looked at the floor, her hands fidgeting.

And in strolled Naoko, leisurely, her thumbs hooked in her pockets. She smirked in the Kazekage's direction. She wasn't going to let him scare her. Not that she was scared, of course.

He was about her age, she surmised, with blood red hair and intimidating pale, sea green eyes rimmed with intense black. A mysterious symbol on his forehead read 'love'. I wonder what that's all about, she thought. He was dressed in typical ninja attire, a black t-shirt underlaid with black fishnet material. His Kazekage robes were draped over the back of his chair. The shapes of powerful, toned muscles were visible through his clothes and his skin was as pale as alabaster. All in all, he cut quite an imposing figure.

"Hi there" Naoko uttered smoothly with a disarming smile. Her eyes glinted with amusement.

Gaara set his gaze upon the girl who had just spoken. He stared at her blankly, but she stared right back, intently. Unaffected. He wasn't used to people behaving so boldly towards him. She met his gaze directly…not many people did that. Interesting, he thought. He surveyed her, the black hair that framed her face, her delicate features, the deep-set green eyes. Gentle curves, and a slim waist. The lazily half-laced boots. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, settling into a cocky stance. She was nothing like the timid ghost girl beside her.

Gaara was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected the engineers to be girls. He turned his eyes to the first girl.

"What is your name?"

"Yuki" she managed to blurt out.

He turned to the other. "And you?" he growled.

"My name is Naoko"

Kankuro remained in the doorway behind them. He gulped. He could sense his brother's foul mood in the atmosphere.

"You are required to detect and solve the fault in our communication and surveillance systems. Kankuro will brief you on the situation…" he paused. His high and mighty attitude was beginning to annoy Naoko.

"I expect you to work quickly and efficiently" he added in a lower tone.

That did it. She strolled over to him, laying her hands on his desk and leaning over to look down at him.

"Listen up, sonny boy, you do your job and leave us to do ours"

"Uh oh" muttered Kankuro, "Big mistake"

With one swift movement, Gaara rose from his seat and slammed his hands down on the desk. There was a deafening crash as his chair hit the wall behind. He stood tall and glared at Naoko menacingly, his eyes narrowed into slits. She was no longer looking down at him. She was looking up. Their faces were inches apart.

"You would be wise to remember your place" he hissed in a low voice, his anger barely contained.

It set Naoko's adrenaline pumping. Was he daring her to continue? She froze beneath the severity of his glare. No, I'm beat, she thought.

The room was locked in silence. Kankuro and Yuki were both wide-eyed and perfectly still. Gaara noted a flash of shock in Naoko's deep-set eyes. She quickly recovered and composed herself. She smiled coolly, disrespectfully turning her back to him and walking towards the door. His steel-set eyes followed her. She turned, flashing him a mischievous smile.

"Ok, you win…for now"

And with that, she left the room. By this point, Yuki was a nervous wreck. She looked to the door, and then back at the Kazekage, unsure what to do. How the hell does she dare to be so reckless, Yuki thought. Sensing that the meeting was over, she edged towards the door, nodding respectfully to the Kazekage before she left to catch up to her friend.

Kankuro shuffled and an awkward grin hijacked his face.

"Y'know, maybe you shouldn't scare pretty girls like that" he drawled dumbly. He decided to stop talking there.

"Shut up Kankuro"

Kankuro left the room, sighing heavily with relief as he slid the door shut. That could have turned out a lot worse.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATHWISH OR SOMETHING?!" Yuki screeched.

"Relax" Naoko sighed, although she knew she should probably take her own advice. The Kazekage's reaction had left her breathless. And even more intrigued.

"That guy needs to chill the fuck out" she said calmly, trying not to seem phased…or interested. Kankuro caught up.

"Sorry about that" he winced "But you were really skating on thin ice in there"

Naoko smiled at the metaphor. "I know. But that's what I do. I skate on thin ice to test the cracks" she smirked "What can I say? Sometimes people break, as you just saw"

"Well, you've got guts anyway," said Kankuro

"Either that or she's just plain stupid" said Yuki, directing a look of disapproval at her daredevil friend.

"Come on, let's head for the Council. They've set aside some rooms for you both while you're staying here in Suna" Kankuro concluded.

Gaara was now reseated at his desk. He had been taken aback by the girl's boldness. No one had ever squared up to him like that before. Or rather, no one had squared up to him and survived. And the way she did it had been almost playful. How interesting.

Maybe he'd scared her a bit too much, he thought. She had tried to appear unfazed but he'd seen the split second of fear in her eyes. She couldn't hide it from him. No, she deserved it. Still, the scenario had left him deeply curious. He decided he had a desire to investigate this girl further. Maybe tomorrow, he concluded.

A/N: Please review! :)