Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 25: Dictation and Temari

"Sakurai-san, your mission here will be to help in the hospital," Gaara said, looking over some documents, "We are currently understaffed and the doctors we do have aren't up to date on any current medical knowledge. You will be teaching them and the new recruits anything you think would be of importance. You will assist in surgeries and basic procedures when needed."

He looked up over the papers to the young woman standing before him, "Any questions?"

"Who will I be reporting to at the hospital, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara looked back over the documents in hand, "Mira-san is the current head of the hospital. You will report to her if you have any questions. If you find anything unusual or if there is unsatisfactory work ethic among the staff, you will report your findings directly to me."

Kira bowed, "Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"Your lodgings will continue to be in the apartment that you stayed in last night. Naruto," the red head looked over to the surprisingly quiet ninja, "how long do you plan on staying in Suna?"

"Tsunade-baa-chan wanted me to get back as soon as Kira-chan settled in, so probably a few more days," he said with a shrug.

"Very well," he turned back to Kira, "If there is nothing else you wish to discuss, you will report to the hospital to get acquainted with the staff and facilities at noon today."

"Actually, Kazekage-sama, there is something I need to speak with you about in private," Kira said.

Gaara nodded, "Kankuro, you will escort Naruto back to the apartment. Temari, wait outside until we're through, then make sure Sakurai-san is able to get to the hospital."

The siblings shrugged and started out the door. Naruto gave Kira a curious look, wondering what it was that she had to talk to his friend about that couldn't be said in front of him. Kankuro grabbed the blonde by his jacket collar and dragged him out, bribing him with a stop by a local ramen stand.

After the doors were shut, Gaara turned to the kunoichi, "What is it you wished to talk to me about?"

"I need help in sending a letter to the Hokage. With my condition, I'm unable to write," she stated plainly, gesturing to her eyes.

Gaara's face showed slight confusion, "Why not ask Naruto? He may not have the neatest handwriting, but I'm sure he could help send a letter."

"I have highly classified information for the Hokage, and I'm not sure if Naruto would have the clearance to know about it just yet. You, on the other hand, are an allied village's Kage and would eventually have access to this information anyway."

The young leader nodded and pulled out an unused scroll and some ink. He dipped a brush in the well and looked to the girl.

Kira proceeded to tell him of her confrontation with Itachi and all the information he provided her, though she excluded his name. He was just called a source.

After the dictation was over, Gaara looked up at her with an unreadable expression, "How did you get this information?"

"I told you Kazekage-sama, from an anonymous source."

"How do you know that this source of yours can be trusted? It would be ideal for the Akatsuki to have the five great nations lower their guard against them. How can we be sure that the leader was killed and the rest disbanded? It would be foolish to take this at face value."

Kira knew that this part would be difficult. What person would be able to hear all of that and not ask questions? However, his tone indicated that he found, not only the information faulty, but her skills in judging said information to be true or false as well.

"With all due respect Kazekage-sama, this source is trusted by not just me, but by Tsunade-sama and the late Sanin Jiraiya-sama. I believe that makes this source credible. Unless, of course, you are doubting their judgment as well as my own."

Gaara sat back in his chair and folded his hands in front of him. He studied her for a while, taking in her monotone voice and expression. Normally when speaking, a person gave away the emotion they were feeling while expressing their opinions. This girl, however, showed no conviction or defensiveness in the inflection of her voice. If he had not been able to understand her, he would have thought that she was simply stating an everyday fact because of her tone, rather than of her accusing him of judging her abilities. What a strange kunoichi.

"Very well," he said after a moment, "I will send this letter to the Hokage immediately. You may leave. Temari should be waiting for you outside to show you around the village and escort you to the hospital."

Kira bowed and exited the office. She had a weird feeling as she left. Usually, when she was around men she didn't know, she avoided them. But with the Kazekage, she actually argued her point. She didn't know if it was because he was Naruto's friend and she had heard a lot about him, or because Naruto kept insisting that they were alike, but something was definitely different about him. What a strange man.

…

As Kira walked out of the Kazekage's office, she easily found the kunoichi from earlier. Temari was leaned up against the wall, arms crossed, eyes closed. Her head came up when she heard the door to her brother's office open and close.

"Ready to go?" she asked in an off-handed manner.

At Kira's nod, Temari shrugged off the wall and started walking down the hallway, motioning for the dark haired girl to follow her. As the two walked past the front desk, the secretary looked up from her work and politely bowed her head to Temari. When her eyes shifted to Kira, the polite mask dropped for an instant to reveal an intense glare, only to slip back into its happy façade a moment later. Kira simply ignored her and trailed after Temari into the hot afternoon sun outside the building. She was use to receiving unfriendly gestures more than polite ones anyway.

"So where do you want to go? You still have some time before you need to report to the hospital," Temari asked, stretching her arms.

Kira shrugged, "Wherever you wish to go is fine with me."

Temari glanced at her, "You hungry?"

Before Kira could respond, her stomach decided to make itself known. The blonde smiled at her as Kira simply closed her mouth again.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Anything in particular you want?" Temari asked, chuckling.

"As long as it isn't ramen, I'll be fine with it."

Temari smirked, "Been around that Uzumaki kid a lot I take it?"

Kira nodded as she followed the sand kunoichi into a café type of setting, "He was one of the first from Konoha to accept me as a friend and comrade."

Temari called over a waitress and ordered some tea and onigiri, then turned back to Kira, "That seems to be one of his specialties. He's very accepting of others, especially when no one else is."

"Personal experience?" Kira asked, slightly curious as to how this sand ninja knew so much about one of her first friends.

"Indirect personal experience," she replied.

The waitress returned with their tea as Kira looked at Temari with a blank expression, confused as to what she meant.

"My brother," Temari said as she took a sip of tea, "Gaara wasn't always as calm as he is now. He used to be violent and short tempered. You have no idea how many times he threatened to kill Kankuro and I and mean it. Everyone in the village was terrified of him."

She took another sip and closed her eyes as she remembered the past. Kira waited patiently for her to continue. She had no trouble imagining the seemingly calm man from before as a threatening presence. In her usual experience, it was the calm moments when you needed to be the most wary.

Temari took another sip, "Then Naruto came along and changed him. Gaara never told me what that blonde idiot said, but because of it, he started to value human life and the bond between comrades."

She paused again as their food was placed before them. Kira took a bite as she pondered over the new information.

Swallowing, she asked, "I heard part of his background. He was a jinchuuriki right?"

Temari nodded, "He had the one-tails. The Akatsuki came for him a few years ago and-"

"I know what happened," Kira cut in.

Temari raised an eyebrow at her, "The knucklehead tell you about it?" she asked, referring to Naruto.

"Partly," Kira replied, finishing up her food. Temari gestured for her to continue.

"I had a first hand recount as to what happened. I assume you have heard about Deidara leaving the Akatsuki and joining Konoha, correct?"

Temari's face darkened at the mention of his name, "Yeah," she hissed out, "I heard that the bastard switched sides."

Kira's face flashed a look of anger before it quickly settled back into its emotionless state, unseen by the sand kunoichi who continued on.

"So you've met the pyro freak? What all did he have to say?" she asked in mock curiosity, moving to drink the last of her tea.

Her hand froze with the cup halfway to her lips. Her eyes darted to Kira in shock as she quickly realized that she was being controlled.

As the blind girl spoke, no emotion or inflection seeped into her tone, "Yes, I've met him. I was captured by him and taken to the Akatsuki base where he was made in charge of guarding me. We talked and after a while, he decided to help me escape. He knows everything about me, things that no one in Konoha, save for the Hokage, knows. He knows my past and I know his. I brought him to the Leaf. Before he came, I had comrades, but wasn't completely trusting of them. I was unable to think of them as my friends. He's helped me in more ways than one."

At that point, Kira released Temari from her jutsu. Temari calmly set her cup down and looked at the still-emotionless girl in front of her.

"You said your brother has changed, correct?" Kira asked.

Temari nodded slowly. Kira put some coins on the table and stood up, her back now facing the slightly speechless kunoichi, "Don't assume that he's the only one with a bad past or that he's the only one that can turn their life around."

Kira started walking to the door.

"Thank you for the lunch," she said calmly as she opened the door and walked out of the building.

Temari sat at the table for a few seconds, stunned. Then a slow smirk began to form on her features. Having this girl around could prove to be very intriguing, that's for sure. She quickly got up, dumping some money down for her portion and left to catch up to the blind girl that was becoming more interesting as time went on.

I know, I'm a terrible writer that hasn't updated in forever! I sincerely apologize! School, work, tutoring, and everyday life have been crazy….along with the ever-present writer's block… -.-" Unfortunately, the longer spans of time between chapters is probably going to be the norm…but chapters WILL keep coming! …Anyway, I hope that this chapter acts as a momentary peace offering to my wonderful readers! Please read and review!