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Chapter Eleven: Nine Against One

The Kazekage took a deep breath to calm himself down, struggling against breaking his cool defenses for once and to go kill some random people in the village. But he had long ago promised himself never to fall back into that line of thought, so he pushed the idea into the back of his mind.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he quickly reread the document he had just received by a mail courier. It had been a sealed envelope from Suna addressed to him and the red letters on top had instantly grappled at his attention. "Important" was the word etched into the paper from the secretary of his council, back at the town he called home.

His council held ten people, and prior to his visit it had been five against five on the subject of the alliance between Konoha. Being the Kazekage, he had the final word and they couldn't make a single decision without his approval, but he had to admit that his council could easily influence him.

Once setting out to discuss the matter over with Tsunade, one of the members in favor of the alliance had stopped him and had begged him to stay with Konoha. Struck by slight pity at seeing an old man beg to him, Gaara had simply nodded and had left while thinking of ways to somehow make the five opposing members change their minds.

But now the papers couldn't lie. Every single one of his council had signed excluding that man. So they were now nine against one, and a still undecided Kazekage.

Somehow, his sister's declaration about the Konoha shinobi had angered him against Leaf Village. Their family bond had been stronger than ever these last few years, despite some occasional falls now and then. He did not want to go back to the way things were before. That idiot, that Shikamaru, was threatening to break everything they had accomplished.

Gaara's head began to pound as he dropped the papers back onto his desk and looked outside at the rising sun and at the new day starting.

---

"Hn. I know something's wrong."

"Kankuro! Leave me alone!" The scream erupting from the kunoichi's lips made most people present in the street cringe away slightly, frightened of what her next move would be.

Her outburst only made the puppeteer grin maliciously. "See, you confirmed it yourself. Something's bothering you, you're acting even more like a bitch than usually," he said, then ducked as Temari hurled a stone at him.

"I'm not acting any differently!" she snapped, then took out her massive fan and headed towards the training ground as her brother walked towards her.

"You can't really hide it," Kankuro said, his painted face contorted into a thoughtful expression.

Irritated, Temari stopped once they had arrived at the training grounds where she bellowed, "Who wants to fight?" As she waited for someone to approach her, she returned her attention to her younger brother and said, "Look, stop bothering me, Kankuro. I'll tell you what's pissing me off when, and if, I feel like it!"

Since no one was approaching his sister to spar, he continued to taunt her, "Hm, is it a boy? Did someone actually grab tough Temari's heart?"

Just as she was about to shout out again a request for someone to train with, her face paled slightly and she whirled around to meet Kankuro's eyes as doubt whirled in her eyes. "Gaara told you!?" she gaped unbelievingly.

Now it was the boy's turn to blink in confusion. "Heh?"

Realizing that it had only been a lucky guess, she rotated her body so that she wouldn't face him, but Kankuro said quickly, "Hey! How come Gaara knows things that I don't?"

Temari took a deep breath to calm herself down, wondering what Kankuro's reaction would be if he found out she was in a relationship. Yet just as she was about to tell him to mind his own business, a young boy stepped forward and said shyly, "I could fight with you, ma'am…"

The Sand Jounin regarded the squirming, blonde kid coolly, wondering if it was a joke. He couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen, and he was obviously a Genin. He had absolutely no chance against her, even if she only fought lightly.

"What's your name, young man?" she asked quietly while looking around for the person responsible for that kid.

"My name's Kazuki!" he said proudly, then continued, "I'm supposed to be training with Choji-Sensei, but he had some business to attend to so he left us behind with one of his friends. Our temporary sensei told me to come and challenge you, and he tells me to tell you to be nice with me."

'Choji-sensei… that name is vaguely familiar…' Temari told herself, looking around for the 'temporary sensei' Kazuki was talking about.

"You're just a kid, leave!" the male voice boomed beside her.

Temari shot a side glare at Kankuro as her brother sneered down at the boy. Hanging his blonde head, Kazuki nodded and turned around, his shoulders sagging slightly as he left the area.

Pulling out her great fan, Temari spun around and struck Kankuro hard on the head, making him crumble to the ground and howl in unexpected pain. Muttering something under her breath about obnoxious brothers, she slung the weapon back in its leather carrier and started down the road.

Kankuro picked himself up quickly while rubbing his head, trying to collect whatever little piece of pride he had left in him after being knocked down by a girl.

Just as he was about to return home, he head someone shout out from behind him, "Kazuki! Where are you?" and then a fainter, "Tch, troublesome…"

Temari's brother turned around and warily eyed the Leaf shinobi who approached him.

"Lost a Genin?" the puppeteer snickered.

Shikamaru's serious face didn't change as he shrugged, shoving his hands deep in his pockets and said, "He bolted when you called him a kid. Choji's going to murder me if I don't find him."

Kankuro shrugged, not caring the least about the Leaf Jounin and the lost kid. But the only reason he wasn't leaving, though, was the way that Shikamaru was eyeing his sister. Temari had stopped down the road and was talking with another woman he didn't recognize.

Shikamaru seemed to be in a sort of trance as he stared at the blonde woman, even if it was from far away. The reason he had sent Kazuki was that he had wanted to see her fight again. He loved to see her wield her fan, to see her body flex and move around quickly, trying –and succeeding- to avoid anything thrown at her.

He was brought back from his daydreaming as Kankuro said menacingly, "Stay away from her…"

Shikamaru returned his attention to the puppeteer and quickly retorted, "What makes you say I want to be around such a troublesome woman?"

A snicker returned on Kankuro's lips as he lowered his voice and said, "When you look at her… there's almost lust in your eyes. You like her."

'How the heck can I be so transparent?' Shikamaru chided himself before yawning and stretching his shoulders to buy himself some time. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

His mind went blank.

Nervously shifting, Shikamaru could've hit himself over the head as Kankuro's snicker turned into a frown of irritation as realization struck him.

The bastard was in love with his sister.

He had thrown it as a joke, only to see the mastermind of Konoha squirm slightly as see what kind of excuse Shikamaru could come up with, but… he was right and he had actually made the genius block.

Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru took control of himself again and said quietly, "Look Kankuro…"

"Admit it, shadow freak!" Temari's brother bit back, his eyes flashing dangerously. His hands were clenched and people were starting to stare, making Shikamaru shift in slight apprehension.

Finally, after about ten agonizing seconds passed, the Leaf Jounin said quietly, "I do."

Kankuro lunged forward.

A/N: Who said they loved cliffhangers?

Heh. I'm sorry, this chapter probably wasn't very good. I've had writer's block for a while now, and I'm struggling to make this story go forward. As Shika would say: Troublesome.

Keep encouraging me by reviewing. It really helps!

Take care