A/N: Hey you guys. Well I don't know when Chapter 11 will be up but I doubt it'll be this soon. Hope you liked this chapter - leave a review and let me know! And now, without further ado...

An Unknown Engagement

Chapter 10

Yumi's eyes shot open. She looked around her room, taking in the darkness and sighing as she shook her head, 'I'm awake again.' This would make it the fifth time she'd woken up in the middle of the night that month. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes – it was becoming more and more difficult for her to get a proper night's rest these days. She had no idea what was causing this disturbance in her sleep patterns.

Yumi sat in bed for a few minutes, contemplating the best way to get back to sleep. Eventually she got out of bed after settling on getting a warm glass of milk. She personally hated the taste of warm milk but if it would succeed in making her sleepy…

She slipped out of her room silently and began making her way to the stairs, glancing in the direction of Gaara's room as she passed. Ever since Temari had returned to Konoha, Yumi had seen less and less of the Kazekage. It had been about a month and a half since they had last spoken. She usually caught sight of him in the evenings when he returned home from the office but they hadn't had any lasting conversations like before.

Yumi frowned – she kind of missed their interactions. Granted they had only had a few short conversations but Yumi couldn't help but feel that there might have been something between them. Then she shook her head – thoughts like that would lead to nothing but trouble and she knew it would be best if she tried to keep them at bay.

She padded down the stairs, shivering slightly in the cold of the desert night. Yumi giggled quietly as she passed Kankurou's room and heard the loud snores emanating from it. She had gotten relatively close to Kankurou and Michiko (who spent most of her time over at the Kazekage's residence when she wasn't on missions or training) since Temari had left. She usually spent most evenings with the two of them after she returned to the Kazekage's residence from the Academy. It wasn't long before she felt totally comfortable in their presence.

As she entered the kitchen, her eyes came to rest on a familiar figure – the same handsome redhead who had just been occupying her thoughts, was sitting by the kitchen counter, his eyes closed, the black around them more visible than ever.

"Gaara – sama?"

He opened his eyes and turned to face her slowly, looking for all the world like someone who had just emerged from a deep sleep. "Good night Yumi – san," he replied thickly as he regarded her, noting that she was again clad in the bunny print pajamas. He decided then that he would treat this as endearing instead of juvenile.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she looked around the kitchen, noting that there were no empty plates or cups there. 'What is he doing down here in the middle of the night?' She wondered as he regarded her blankly.

"I couldn't sleep. So I came down here to meditate."

"Oh! I'm sorry then – I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll just go."

"Don't. It's not a problem. Sit down."

Yumi moved through the kitchen and plopped down on the seat across from Gaara's. "So," she started, unsure of what to say in this situation, "What's keeping you up? Anything in particular?"

Gaara looked away – the truth was that he had been up thinking about the engagement. He was beginning to get a little bit concerned because he hadn't been able to really talk to Yumi in almost two months and he barely knew anything about her as it was. But then here she came traipsing into the kitchen at the exact same moment that he was wondering how to deal with the whole thing. Coincidence?

Of course he couldn't tell her what had really been bothering him so instead he answered, "I've been having some trouble sleeping recently, that's all. And you?"

Yumi's eyes widened at his explanation and she leaned towards him before saying incredulously, "Forget about me – I want to know what's keeping you up! It won't do for you to be losing sleep – you have to be well rested! How will you do your job properly if your brain's all sleep - adled?!"

Gaara allowed the corners of his mouth to turn up into a smirk – he found Yumi's outrage quite amusing. Of course lack of sleep wasn't having the effect on Gaara that it would on others but Yumi wouldn't know that.

"Do not concern yourself about me, Yumi – san. I can assure you that my brain is anything but 'sleep adled' and I believe that I am quite competent, regardless of my lack of sleep."

Yumi looked skeptical, "I'm sure. Now tell me, Gaara – sama. Do you by any chance know what's preventing you from sleeping?"

Gaara looked up at her, surprised but touched by her genuine concern. He could tell that it was genuine too because it was written all over her face. He wondered absently how a ninja could survive with such a candid countenance.

"It's," He started before pausing. What should he say? He couldn't tell her what he had actually been thinking about. However he needn't have worried because Yumi herself provided him with a solution.

"Let me guess – it's some top secret, really important political thing that you can't talk about, right?"

Gaara studied her and then nodded slowly, smirking as he realized that what she had said was in a way the truth, "You could say that."

Yumi nodded, smiling wistfully, "Yeah. My otou - sama's the same way. I suppose all Kages have the same difficulties."

"I imagine you must be well versed in the political arena, Yumi – san?"

She laughed quietly, "I suppose so. It's not as though I had a choice. When my brother and I were younger, my father trained us both in the whole political process. He had planned to observe us and decide who was more competent, then name that child as heir but that didn't really work out," her voice suddenly took on a somewhat guilty tone and she looked away.

Now Gaara's interest was peaked. He was aware that Yumi's brother was set to inherit the position of Raikage, however he had not given much thought as to why this was. "Why not?"

Yumi's eyes sparkled mischievously, "To make a long story short, I just wasn't cut out for the political arena and it wasn't long before my father realized that as well."

Gaara nodded but sensed that Yumi was definitely leaving out a large chunk of the story. As usual, he decided to let the matter rest for now, sure that in the future she would tell him the rest.

Silence descended in the quaint kitchen as Yumi's eyes wandered over to the kitchen window and she gazed out at the crescent moon high above their heads. Gaara studied Yumi's profile in the moonlight, noting how soft her skin looked and wanting inexplicably to touch it. He frowned and looked away, surprised at this treacherous thought pattern.

Suddenly Yumi gasped and turned back to Gaara, her excitement shining in her eyes, "Gaara – sama! I just remembered something." He inclined his head at her as a sign to continue, "There is something I can do to help you sleep. It's a twist on a healing technique that my mother taught me when I was younger. Come here," she said, stretching her hands out towards him.

Gaara hesitated - 'a twist on a healing technique'? That didn't sound promising.

Yumi frowned, "Come on. I'm not gonna hurt you. Trust me – I know what I'm doing."

Gaara still had a few reservations but since he didn't want to offend Yumi, he moved closer to her. He tried to ignore the strange way that his heart sped up when she placed her hands on his forehead.

Yumi was also having trouble trying to fight the blush threatening to creep up her cheeks. She concentrated and Gaara felt the soothing feeling of healing chakra coursing through his head. He realized after a few seconds that the chakra seemed slightly different from typical healing chakra.

"How do you feel Gaara – sama?" Yumi asked as she began massaging his temples softly.

Gaara opened his mouth to respond but found himself more than a little confused by the onset of these strange feelings, "I...am not sure," he said uncertainly.

Yumi smiled, "That's okay. It takes a few minutes to kick in. Anyway I don't know why I didn't think of this before considering the fact that I haven't been sleeping well myself."

Gaara moved his head upward to look up at Yumi intending to ask her about that but the words died in his throat when his eyes caught Yumi's. Her eyes widened and she subconsciously stopped rubbing his forehead. Yumi opened her mouth to say something but found her mind was totally blank so she just shut it again.

They continued to stare at each other for a few minutes and unknowingly began moving closer to one another. When their noses were almost touching, Gaara hesitated.

In that moment of hesitation, the spell between them was broken and Yumi's eyes scanned the space (or lack thereof) between them, taking in the situation. Her eyes widened even more in alarm and she stepped back, putting her hands behind her back as she did.

"Gaara, Kazekage – sama! I, I think I should go to bed. It's getting late," she said, moving quickly backwards out of the kitchen, eyes still wide open in shock over what had almost happened between them.

"Yumi – san, wait," Gaara said desperately, searching his brain for something to say to stop her, to calm her down. He sensed that if he didn't do something then, all the progress they had made would be wasted.

"No it's really late. And you should go to bed too because that jutsu should be kicking in pretty soon. Good night," Yumi said before rushing up the stairs, face aflame.

Gaara watched her go with a sinking feeling. He wanted to go after her but just as she said, the drowsiness that seemed to have disappeared during their moment suddenly crashed down on him and he only had time to rest his head on the kitchen counter before he was out cold.

Yumi was currently pacing up and down in her room, trying to keep calm and sort out her thoughts. She wasn't doing a very good job of it.

'I can't believe what just happened. How could I be so stupid? I let my little infatuation with the Kazekage go way too far.' Yumi thought, taking a deep breath as she sat down heavily on her bed, her shoulders slumping

'I don't even know what to do and I thought what happened before was embarrassing. In fact, this goes beyond embarrassing - it's just wrong. My brother would kill me if he found about this. He would say I'm being totally irresponsible. And he'd be right,' she thought dejectedly as she closed her eyes and threw herself back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her mind replaying what had just happened in the kitchen. A little, nagging voice suddenly popped up, raising a very interesting point, 'But he moved in too, didn't he? And I could have sworn from the look in his eyes that he - ' "

"What am I thinking? I'm not even going to entertain those thoughts. I cannot have a relationship with the Kazekage, it's simple as that. There is a very simple solution for this. All I have to do is make sure that I keep things totally professional between the two of us...And avoid him like the plague. Yes! That sounds like a plan,' She thought as she curled up in bed, pulling the covers over her and thankfully drifting off to sleep.

Several days passed by where Yumi's plan actually seemed to be working. Until an evening, several days after the almost kiss when Gaara came home early and found Yumi and Kankurou conversing in the kitchen.

"Hey little bro, you're home early!" Kankurou said by way of greeting.

Yumi glanced at Gaara before looking down again, "Good evening, Kazekage – sama," she said quietly.

Kankurou noticed her formality and glanced at his brother but Gaara was fixated on Yumi, "Kankurou. Yumi – san."

Yumi appeared slightly alarmed by Gaara's attention and feigned a yawn, "It's good to see you home so early, Kazekage – sama. You know what? I think I'm gonna head to bed now," she said, glancing at Kankurou.

Kankurou nodded, "Alright. Good night Yumi – san."

"Wait, Yumi – san. May I speak with you before you go?" Gaara asked, sending his brother a look.

Kankurou looked between the two of them and slipped from the kitchen, mumbling something about cleaning up the living room. Yumi watched him leave, her apprehension growing – she knew what Gaara was going to say and she searched her mind to find a way out of the conversation.

Gaara watched Kankurou leave as well before turning his gaze back to Yumi, "Yumi – san, I hope that what happened the other night…" he trailed off, thinking – he knew that he had to phrase this properly in order to avoid alienating her more.

Yumi shook her head, "Don't worry about that, Kazekage – sama. It was nothing, right?" she finished, glancing up at Gaara with a look that made it seem impossible for him to say otherwise.

Gaara contemplated her question for a minute before answering, "Exactly. It was nothing."

"Well then, there's nothing to talk about! Unless there's something else you want to discuss?" she said with false cheeriness.

Gaara continued to watch her, still trying to think of something to say to make amends before giving up as he realized that his efforts were futile. "I suppose you're right. No, there's nothing else."

Yumi sighed and bowed, "Well then, good night Kazekage – sama," she said as she turned to go.

"Yumi – san?"

"Yes?" she said, turning back.

"I believe I told you that you do not have to address me by my title in private."

Yumi turned back to Gaara and he watched as an unknown emotion flitted through her eyes before she said quietly, "I think it's better if I do," before retreating upstairs.

A surge of frustration ran through Gaara as he watched her go. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid! What was he supposed to do now?

His anger suddenly became directed towards Yumi's father. Gaara scowled deeply as he thought of him, 'If he hadn't proposed this idiotic clause, this would never have happened.'

His thoughts were interrupted by his brother's voice, "Gaara? Is there something you're not telling me?" Kankurou asked quietly, eyebrows raised as he stared pointedly at the place where Yumi had been.

Gaara turned his gaze on his brother and Kankurou was surprised by the intensity he saw reflected there - it wasn't often that Gaara's eyes looked anything more than cold and lifeless. He was downright floored however by what Gaara said next. "Kankurou, I think it's time that Yumi learn about the engagement."