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

--

Temari eyed the little pink haired chuunin, her scowl becoming more and more prominent with each word her youngest brother spoke.

"The Hokage requested that I bring her back to Suna and let her stay here for the time being." Gaara's voice had gone into hard flat monotone, as it always did when he spoke of his duties. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to sneer. Her? Pinky? Here, in Suna? God, what had the world come to? Her foot tapped the floor impatiently. "Someone is after her life, and I'm to protect her during her stay."

Temari raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. Protect...it just didn't sound right. Gaara and protection didn't go together, unless it was for the sake of the village. Not for some...some weak little girl.

"She should be with you, me, or Kankuro at all times. No exceptions," Gaara paused and looked to his sister pointedly.

She didn't like where this was going.

"You are not dumping that girl on me," she stated flatly. From her position leaning against the wall of Gaara's office, arms crossed, she could half-way see the pink girl standing uncertainly. She glared at her. The girl noticed. She frowned back at Temari, an almost indistinct line appearing on her overlarge forehead.

Gaara continued as if he hadn't heard. "Haruno will stay with you at your apartment."

"No." She said it coldly, with just a tiny hint of anger. A few months ago she wouldn't have dared to disobey her brother – and neither would Kankuro. But Gaara had changed, and she figured that now was a good a time as ever to show some older sibling dominance.

Especially since she was roughly fifteen years late.

"Do you think it would be better if she stayed with Kankuro?" It came off as more of a statement than a question.

Temari bit her lip, hard. He had a good point. A female in Kankuro's house at night would be a no no.

But why her?

"Why can't she stay with you?" She questioned irritably, not liking the fact that she was already losing this argument.

Gaara glared at her for even suggesting it.

Oh yes, how could she forget. Gaara was the big bad Kazekage, so God forbid anything or anyone happen that might disrupt him and all his important duties.

She so wanted to say that.

"I hate you," she ground out instead, baring her teeth.

Gaara ignored her.

"If you're so against it then you can drop her off with Kankuro during the day. When I finish with work then I'll watch her for the evening, then she can go back to you."

"That means you barely have to watch her at all," Temari said unhappily.

"And?"

Temari made an indistinguishable sound that might have been "tk," and glanced towards the cause of all this. Haruno's face looked calm, but her twitching fingers gave away her agitation at being talked about as though she was a burden.

Well, she was. No sense in lying to her.

"When do I start?" She asked Gaara resignedly.

Gaara slipped behind his large desk. "You can take her now."

"Now?" Temari repeated incredulously. "I have to take her home now?"

She could almost feel the other kunoichi's anger. Temari sneered at her, a symbol that she didn't give a shit if she was unhappy. Haruno clenched her fists so hard a couple of bones popped and sent her a glare worthy of that Uchiha kid...which was probably where she learned it.

If Gaara noticed the two female's hostility, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Yes, now."

--

Sakura caught the pillow and blanket the older girl threw at her.

"You can sleep on the couch," Temari snapped. "I don't have a guest room."

She nodded tensely in response, trying to fix the way her control on her angrily swirling chakra was slipping. If she wasn't careful she could break something on accident.

...or someone.

On accident, of course.

She could not believe this. They had worked out a schedule for her. A schedule.

Sakura glared at Temari's back as she left the room.

I am a guest...must...not...snap...table...

But it's sooo snap-able...

She threw her bedding onto Temari's couch, scowling. Perfect. She had to stay with this...this evil amazon woman.

She even would have preferred staying with stoic Gaara.

The light outside was dying quickly. With a last sigh, Sakura crawled onto the couch and settled into what she knew would be an uncomfortable sleep.

--

Sakura sighed wearily and crossed her arms, while Temari busied herself with violently banging on her brother's front door. She hoped that Kankuro was friendlier than his sister. If he wasn't, then...she'd think about that if the situation arose.

The door swung open and Temari had to jump backwards out of its way. "What the hell do you want?" Kankuro roared at his older sister.

"Good morning," Temari replied sweetly. "Just thought I'd say hi."

Kankuro was not pleased. "Woman, you had better have a better reason than that for almost beating down my door."

Sakura couldn't help it. She giggled. Kankuro's gaze swung to her, and his displeasure seemed to melt away.

"Hey Temari, who's your friend?" He asked, grinning at Sakura.

"You should know," Temari said. "You just saw her a few months ago."

"What? Uh..hey, I know!" He exclaimed. "You're my cute little nurse! Sakura."

"Nice to see you again, Kankuro-san," Sakura smiled at him. He seemed to be a little more sociable than Temari.

"Likewise," he said, looking her up and down. Sakura's smile slipped a little. She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered or outraged.

"Are you going to let us in or not?" Temari interrupted.

Kankuro sighed and stepped back. "So pushy..."

"So, here's the current situation," Temari said briskly once they were seated in his small den. "A wack job's after pinky here, so she needs to be with you, me, or Gaara at all times so she won't get her insides ripped out or something."

"Sounds good to me," Kankuro said, not fazed at all.

Temari noticed. "The only reason Gaara agreed was because the Hokage specifically asked him. This will do wonders for reinforcing the alliance between Suna and Konoha. So that means no mess ups. If she dies, we're screwed."

"Right, right," Kankuro said. "No worries, big sister."

Sakura couldn't believe they were talking about her like this. 'If she dies, we're screwed?' Why were they all treating this like a business deal? This was her LIFE they were talking about!

"You'll have to excuse my sister," Kankuro said, noticing her expression. "She's an evil manly wench, and tends to act as such."

Temari bristled as Sakura laughed. "And this is coming from my homosexual brother who wears makeup and plays with dolls?"

"They are not dolls! And it's war paint!"

Temari laughed meanly. "I'm sure. And if I'm so manly, how come it's me who has a boyfriend?"

"I don't want a boyfriend," Kankuro sniffed haughtily.

"You know what I meant," Temari grinned.

Sakura watched the exchange with interest, strongly reminded of her two teammates. Kankuro suddenly grabbed Sakura by the elbow, waving her arm at Temari. "I already have a girlfriend," he said smugly.

"Uh..." Sakura considered protesting, but a quick wink from Kankuro assured her that he was just having fun. "Oh yes," she said, deciding to play along. "Kankuro and I have grown very close in the five minutes we've known each other."

"Very cute," Temari said, unimpressed. Kankuro 'hmphed' and released Sakura's arm.

"You know Temari, this is why your boyfriend won't move over here," Kankuro said. "He's probably afraid of you. You're too mean. Relax."

"I – " she was broken off by a loud growl from Kankuro's stomach. He laughed embarrassingly.

"Uh, wanna go to lunch?"

"No thanks," Temari said, with a withering glance at Sakura. "You two go on."

They parted at the front door, Temari heading back to her house and Sakura and Kankuro making their way towards Suna's marketplace.

"Is she always so hostile?" She asked Kankuro once they were out of earshot.

"Of course," he replied. "She'll loosen up after a while, don't worry."

Sakura doubted it.

--

Sakura wasn't disappointed. Kankuro was more fun than his sister. He was friendly and had a good, is not twisted, sense of humor. It was easy to talk to him, and his constant flirting strangely made him feel much more familiar than they normally would have been. They spent the day wandering around Suna, and when Kankuro led her to Gaara's office to pass her off, she felt disappointed.

"I really would like to stay with you longer," he said while they waited outside the door. "But, what the Kazekage says goes."

"We'll see each other again tomorrow," she said.

"You may see the Kazekage now," the secretary spoke up.

They moved through the door and found Gaara staring at a neat pile of scrolls stacked about a foot high.

"Hey Gaara," Kankuro greeted. "Paperwork get away from you?"

Gaara grunted in response and pointed to a cushioned chair by the door. "Haruno, wait for a few minutes. I need to finish these."

"Bye Gaara, bye Sakura-chan," Kankuro waved.

"Bye Kankuro-kun," she said, taking her seat. Kankuro left.

Things were going to get irritating.

She dropped her chin into her hands and let out a small sigh. After spending who knows how long in a cramped office with Gaara, the boy who tried to kill her when they were twelve, she would go back to stay with Temari for another night.

And Sasuke and Kakashi weren't here. Her love...her brother and her sensei had yet to arrive. What if they had run into the Uchiha hater and he turned out to be more than Kakashi could handle?

What if – Sakura closed her eyes – they had run into Orochimaru?

Sakura mentally scolded herself for considering Sasuke would betray them.

But...he had done it before, right? What was stopping him now? Sure, he was back in Konoha, but she and Naruto had to drag him back kicking and screaming. And he'd only agreed to remain after two weeks under heavily guarded arrest...what if he wanted to go back?

What if he didn't? What if Orochimaru took him by force?

A slight groan escaped her as she cradled her head in her hands, rubbing her aching temples. She thought too much.

"You're worried."

She lifted her face, blinking, to look at Gaara, who hadn't taken his eyes off his greatly diminished paperwork.

"How...?"

"You're too open with your emotions," he paused, eyes flicking to her. "It's obvious."

"Okay, yes, I am," she admitted, frowning.

"Worried about the Uchiha?"

"Yeah," she was startled into saying. "I mean, he should have been here by now, right? He and Kakashi-sensei left at the same time as me. So why aren't they here? Were they deterred? If so, why didn't they send a message? How come – " she bit her tongue, hard, before she could blubber any more. How could she babble like that in front of the Kazekage? He probably thought she was an idiot now. Any second now he was going to smirk and make some snarky comment, and she'd feel even dumber.

"They took a different route than you and I," he instead replied. "Longer. They could be stopping in different locations to lose a trail."

"Oh." Well that made sense. She still felt stupid, though.

Yes, things were going to get very, very irritating.

--