Summary: The Kazekage had quite a bit on his plate, trying to stop an upcoming of another war was one thing. The proposed solution? Utter madness! To swoon the Hokage's only daughter was no small feat, especially since she had suitors lined out the door. He had heard rumors about her ruthless nature. If true, she was gonna be one hell of a spitfire.

"Sakura Senju?" a gruff voice called out. He was quite a sightly man, muscular arms coated with scars, an eye patch over his left eye, and a tall stature that was even taller than her boys' height. She was simply a shrimp compared to this giant man. Hell, if he was covered in hair she could claim that she saw Bigfoot with her own emerald eyes. That was definitely a joke saved for another time.

A cough snapped her out of her thoughts of the ugly mythical creature. Too bad it came from the awkward tall figure before her, "Yes," her voice was firm. She had to speak with her boys soon or she wouldn't hear the end of it and time was closing in on her.

She had begged Tsunade not to mention the marriage treaty to her team, they would have put up a huge fit and refused to let her go. She was their only female member and she'd be damned if they were going to act like they had to protect her all the time. She was the first out of all of them to become chunin, and they hadn't even found out that she had become ANBU until seven months ago. That was pure hell in itself.

They had found out some of her worst secrets and they still protected her with all they had. Missing them would be missing a piece of her that she never wanted to leave behind. She had her heart in Konoha and, if being honest, she always would. But she knew that this treaty was necessary for Suna and that they needed good medical training. Perhaps she could work out a deal where she may return to Konoha from time to time? It was highly unlikely, but Suna was desperate for medical advancement, and Konoha had offered them their best who just so happened to be the Hokage's adoptive daughter.

She could probably work out a deal somewhere down the line. But Sakura already felt like she was pushing the boundaries bringing her "ferret" along for the journey and keeping him by her side seemed like it would back her into a corner. If it were a one or the other situation, she'd pick traveling Konoha in a heartbeat, but her mother would probably say otherwise. She had him ever since she had begun to train harder and knew that even though she would have to leave him eventually, it was nice knowing that he was always at her side.

She felt safe in his presence but knew she had to become more independent. She was to become a diplomat now and that was scary to think about. She needed her safety net, but knew she had to stand on her own two feet eventually.

Perhaps the Kazekage had changed. Perhaps she had heard rumors that were all true. Perhaps she could fall in love with this man who had women throwing themselves at him and kissing the ground he walked on. As like as he wasn't like 'him' and all was not lost. These were things that kept her up at night as of late and she definitely hated herself for it.

He held a quizzical glare at the joined hands of the future Kazekage's wife and this blond buffoon who wouldn't shut up while conversing with his comrades who stood outside of the palace, clearly forgetting that he was standing right there. The pinkette shrimp dropped Naruto's hand and followed him inside when he motioned for them to come inside. It had been quite the journey for all of them, traveling from Konoha to Suna in under seven hours, and not one of them even looked like they broke a sweat.

They were a lively bunch, alright. The pink haired one seemed to be the calmest and coldest of the group after the raven-haired man who looked like he was in a sour mood from the moment he had arrived.

It would be the end of him if anything were to go wrong between his Kazekage and the Hokage's only child. The guard couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. He had left Suna only once, and that was to protect the Kazekage while he was visiting Konoha a little over a year ago. Had she been in Konoha during his stay? Why did he not remember the attitude coming from what seemed like a harmless fairy child? He remembered how she was considered to be the top medic in all of the five nations, so maybe he hadn't seen her before. But something about her reminded him of danger.

The group stopped in front of the Kazekage's office and the guard knocked on the door, hoping that he could catch his leader while he was in a good mood. He mentally crossed his fingers that all would go well.

"Come in."

Gaara had been dreading this moment, not that anyone besides his sister had caught on to, but it was certainly nerve-wracking that he had to accept a marriage to someone who was known as 'Konoha's Pink Spitfire'. Her temper was said to rival Tsunade's and that was frightening to think about. Not to mention that, from what he had understood, Naruto was unaware of their little arrangement. Fear was not something well known to the calm and reserved Kazekage, and he sure as hell was not going to let it overcome him.

The guard had opened the door and ushered the group of five into the awaiting Kazekage's office. Seafoam eyes landed on the pinkette and he noted he had seen her before. But where?

"Gaara!" Naruto called to his old friend, arms wide open for a hug. It was the typical Naruto greeting all had to endure but everyone knew it was not common to act this was with the Kazekage. The red-headed man was not one for physical contact, but for Naruto, he would gladly make the occasional exception. Note, occasional. Even he had his limits when it came to the blond.

"Welcome," came his soft tenor voice, he awkwardly hugged his friend back and quickly let go to assess the rest of the group before him. His eyes landed back on the sole woman of the group.

'Shit.' He had remembered where he had seen her.

XOXOXO

After his encounter with her group all those years ago it was hard to forget the woman with pink hair. He had nearly killed her when they last met, at the chunin exams all those years ago. Her eyes were icy yet warm at the same time. It was almost as if she had a naturally warm personality but despised him.

There was no way he could go back in time and not try to kill her, but he was damned if he didn't try to accommodate her in every way he could in order for this process to go smoothly. She was a female, and although Gaara was relatively clueless about the whole differing sex, well... he only knew stereotypes of women. His sister was definitely different than the women who threw themselves at him when he became Kazekage. He had worked so hard for their respect that he didn't know what to do with those women.

Maybe he would get lucky and she would have the same feelings towards him? Maybe all would go smoothly? Maybe it would all work out for the sake of the treaty. It was beneficial to both hidden villages but more so to Suna, who needed more resources and better medics. She was their ticket to that kind of help.

When the subject of a treaty had come up and there was a definite mention towards their medical knowledge, he had asked for the best medic Konoha could offer. He had no idea that the current Hokage would offer her only child. He expected some half-rate but seemingly much better medic who had no direct ties and whose knowledge and presence would be missed so much.

It was true that he wanted their best, which shouldn't have surprised him for Konoha to offer their best eligible medic, but something felt oddly suspicious. If the Hokage so freely gave up her daughter there was either some secret to come out and destroy someone or something much more sinister.

He prayed it wasn't the latter.

Whoa! I updated soooo much in so many stories! I love and am digging all the love and responses I'm getting! I have absolutely no idea what I would do without you guys and I'm always and forever be grateful for all of your love and support. In case you haven't noticed, I've created and uploaded a revised version of The Change, so hopefully it'll be brand new and it'll go over waaaay better than last time. I always try and keep my stories relatively short but they always end up going on longer than I had originally planned! Let's see where this one takes us next! As always, your reviews and encouragement are appreciated. Thanks again y'all!

xoxo,

Tiny