Naruto:
Brothers of Sand and Leaf
By Geor-sama
-Chapter 2-
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Leaning against the inside of the large gate, Temari glared out at the others surround her. This glare was a sign to those that knew her that she was in deep thought and would not appreciate being disturbed. It was also, to Baki, a sign that she was currently judging her brother Gaara's position and her fan. Safety was first in this group, even if Gaara was nicer.

Temari shifted her weight, propping one of her feet against the wall behind her, crossing her arms. Narrowing her eyes she considered the intent look in her brothers flat green eyes and she knew without a doubt where that intensity came from.

Uzumaki Naruto.

The only ninja to have ever beat Gaara, as in put him down for the count. Gaara hadn't been able to do much of anything for a full day he'd been so drained. That blond ninja was the only reason that the Hidden Sand council had been able to convince Gaara to do this mission. The off chance that Naruto would be placed in this group had been good and Gaara wanted, for his own reasons, to see the ninja.

Temari however would have preferred to have anyone else in her group other than Naruto. Not because he was a jerk, because what she had learned from the fragmented spy reports about him, he wasn't. It also wasn't because he was ugly, he wasn't handsome but he did have something that made a girl notice him. It also wasn't so much his age, three years wasn't that big a deal and since he was now thirteen she didn't feel quite so guilty about noticing him.

No, the singular, powerful reason she didn't want him in this group was: He beat Gaara. He had to be a monster as well, an even bigger and more powerful monster. Temari could almost feel it in her bones that those two monsters would eventually start fighting and that very few people would make it out alive when that happened.

Sighing the blond girl lowered her gaze, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully. All of this made her mission from the council all that harder.

Seduce Naruto.

She'd have to get closer than a friend, closer than a sister, she'd have to become his girlfriend. All so that he would leave Konoha and join her in the Hidden Sand Village, so that the council could have two super-weapons at their disposal.

Temari at least took some comfort in the fact that at least she wouldn't have to lure that Lee kid or Shino. Naruto she respected, deep inside, probably even feared. Knowing how innocent he was she'd have to be obvious and push aside the slight guilt she felt about deceiving him. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the soft sound of crunching gravel, causing her to absently list a few statistics in her mind: Three people, one heavier than the other two, obviously not worried about silence.

Lifting her eyes she stared up at the approaching ninjas noting that Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were obviously less than thrilled about being near them. Temari thought that was rather stupid, to be that open about what you were feeling toward your fellow teammates. These leaf ninjas were almost like open books, easy to read and easy to understand. They'd learn though, if they lived long enough.

Lowering her gaze she smirked, at least relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with Shikamaru. She and the black haired Chunin hadn't dated really, there had been something between them, but she had grown tired of his unconcern and he had gotten sick of her meanness. Thus he had turned his gaze to a girl closer to home, namely the blond girl in his own squad, Ino. Temari didn't blame him though, it only made sense since inter-village relationships were too difficult to actually work.

Her only real complaint was that he hadn't had the balls to tell her in person that he wasn't interested in her anymore. No, instead Temari had had to learn about his change in feelings from their spy network, which was stretched pretty thin if the truth were known. The Hokage wasn't stupid, she kept them neutralized in such away that they learned nothing that she didn't want them to know.

Temari was brought out of her thoughts once more when the sound of a loud energetic voice chattering happily reached her on the air. Cutting her eyes up and to the left she found the blond boy, dressed in his orange 'Here I am! Kill me!' jumpsuit, walking toward them with boundless energy and smiling brightly. Next to him was his pink haired friend, Sakura. The girl looked less than thrilled about the energy Naruto was showing and kept shooting him dark glares.

Temari kept her face neutral, noting the small barely noticeable signs that Sakura hadn't slept last night. Was she that nervous about going out on a mission? It didn't make much sense, the girl had been rather brave when she'd stood up to Gaara to try and save the Uchiha. Maybe it was because of how much responsibility she had for this mission, not that Temari really cared. All that mattered was getting close to Naruto, if only she could figure out how.

That was when Temari winced involuntarily from the blow Sakura had just delivered to the side of Naruto's head. The blond sand ninja couldn't believe how hard she had hit him, Naruto's eyes were actually watering from the blow. Did the girl not know just how powerful he was? Nobody would dare hit her brother like that, Temari was sure that if she ever tired hitting Gaara it'd be the last thing she'd ever do. Sakura had to be insane!

Naruto however recovered and laughing started talking happily once more, then spotting Shikamaru darted toward them without an apparent care in the world. He was different from every other male ninja Temari had ever dealt with, they were all stern and serious. Proud and unwilling to be pushed around or laughed at. Yet Naruto didn't seem to mind, he was just happy. That was the only way to describe him, happy.

Temari found that unnerving and annoying, how could any ninja be that unconcerned about not coming back? This mission was easily the most deadly and he didn't even seem aware that even HE could die. Nobody was that unconcerned, nobody. Not even Gaara. Shifting her gaze to her younger brother she paused, seeing just how detached he seemed. Then it slowly sunk in, Naruto and Gaara were both detached from the fear of death. It was as if the two of them were in a different world from everybody else.

Taking a sharp breath she nearly toppled over from that chilling understanding. Not fearing death led to dangers that no ninja would ever take. It was a fundamental safety feature built into humans, to fear death, so that you didn't try anything too ridiculous. Yet these two didn't have that, which meant the entire team was doomed to a violent death.

"Alright," Baki suddenly said cutting across her chilling thoughts and drew everybody toward him. Looking down she watched as he knelt and started listing them in the marching order. So she would be behind Naruto, not the best position for her but it was a tough choice on where to place her.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted and as one they all turned to stare at the approaching ninjas. One was grinning almost like a dog, dressed in a gray fur lined jacket with a white dog on his head, the other one was walking in a measured pace, wearing sunglasses and a gray jacket that hid most of his face. Temari knew them from the chunin exam, Kiba and Shino, she didn't like either of them.

"Kiba!" Naruto shouted happily and jogged over to met the boy halfway, Temari noted however that neither of them seemed quite as friendly as they should be. Ninjas from the same village often talked openly, but from their body language there was an unresolved conflict between them.

Shino strode past the two seemingly friendly boys, leaving Kiba to explain the mission that had just come back from to an interested looking Naruto and a resigned Sakura. The dark haired, sunglass wearing boy passed within an arms length of Temari. He didn't even seem to register her presence and the blond sand ninja resisted the urge to hit him over the head with her fan.

He stopped next to Shikamaru and Baki, still unchanged from when he first appeared. The large sand leader raised his eyebrow and Shino answered the unasked question. "The Hokage sent us."

"What for?" Sogetstu rather irritatedly asked.

Shino turned his head slightly to acknowledge the man, continuing in that same calm tone "She felt we would be better suited for this mission than Ino and Choji."

Temari almost blanched in realization of what this meant. Ino and Choji were being replaced by these two, which meant she would now have a bug creep in her group. Baki snorted crossing his arms, while the others started to move in to find out what was going on, all save Naruto and Kiba who continued talking loudly at each other.

"So...Shikamaru's gotta go without us?" Ino asked softly, and Temari almost laughed at how pitiful the blond girl looked. When Baki nodded, Ino turned away and Shikamaru merely frowned even more.

"Awww," Kanakuro muttered as he moved to stand next to Temari, "So sweet...it makes me want to throw up."

Temari glanced at him, smirking slightly then looked over at Naruto, wondering how to go about what was required of her. Putting it off for a few more minutes she looked back at the group, listening absently to Baki rearrange their marching order. She was pleased to note that Naruto was now behind her.

Despite her happiness in the change of orders she saw Shikamaru glancing at Ino and for a moment Temari wondered why the Hokage would make such a dangerous switch at the last minute. Then it hit her, those two were dating. That meant Shikamaru could be blind sided, or blackmailed. How could anybody other than Gaara possibly let someone so close to them die? It would be a weakness that a clever enemy would notice and exploit.

By removing her the Hokage was removing a problem. But obviously she wasn't aware of the conflict between Naruto and Kiba, unless she had included Shino for the express purpose of being a buffer between the two if things became heated.

Temari shifted her attention back to their group leader, unsurprised that he took the change in stride. After a few extra minutes filling in the new arrivals Shikamaru, Choji and Ino moved away from the group. To far away to be heard and Temari sighed in annoyance at this new delay. Did these guys really not understand what was going down? They didn't have time for this, because they really were going to seek out Orochimaru, not attack if the could help it, but to make sure that the location was correct.

Rolling her eyes the sand ninja saw the fringed indifference in Shikamaru as he spoke to Choji, before looking at Ino. The girl looked almost ready to cry, honestly how pathetic could you get? Temari could almost guess what she was saying to him, Ino would ask if he really had to go and then beg him to refuse. Shikamaru would respond that he couldn't just run away and that it was troublesome. When Ino took the boys hand, Temari couldn't help but snort. She was startled however when Ino suddenly leaned up and kissed him, then stepped away.

Feeling vaguely annoyed that she didn't have anyone to kiss Temari looked away from the couple only to find Sakura and Naruto standing close by. The sand ninja couldn't help but wonder what the blond was thinking, then he turned away from the sight glancing at the pink haired girl behind him. "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto, giving him a small smile. Temari puzzled over that for a moment, trying to figure out if she should use this to her advantage if she could. Then before she could reach a moral decision Baki's voice cut across the still morning air.

"We're wasting time." Sighing she slipped the fan into the sash over her shoulder and moved forward as the others fell into place. At least they were finally getting started, Temari took comfort in that.

The forest path was beautiful considering that summer was beginning to fade away. Already there was a sting of coolness in the air and trees were getting an early start on shedding their leaves. The majestic beauty was lost however to the pink haired girl currently following Shino as they moved ever onwards. She was reflecting on Sasuke, Naruto and herself.

They had all been through so much together and now they were each moving along a path that took them away from that time together. Sasuke was studying under possibly one of the most evil ninjas that had ever existed, willingly. This mission meant that she would come face to face with him for the first time since that night. He wouldn't want to come back, not willingly and she had her fears that Naruto wouldn't be able to drag him back.

Naruto who was fast becoming a superb ninja that the villagers were starting to notice as something more than an disruption. He wasn't nearly as reviled as he had been, at least Sakura thought he wasn't. But then he spoke so little about his past she wasn't really sure what he was used to. He was fast becoming her most important friend, he hardly asked her out that much anymore and she suspected that the few times he had were just from habit. He was loyal to a fault, she had learned that the hard way.

That was why when she betrayed him she would never be able to forgive herself. Sakura would fight alongside him to the very bitter end, would probably die with him if she had to, but if the choice came like she knew it would; she would turn on him. She'd betray her village, her family and her friends. If Sasuke would let her join him, she'd betray them all. He had her heart and she couldn't take it back. That was why she had spent last night just laying in bed, thinking about what this mission meant and what she would have to do.

Shifting her unseeing gaze from the forest she stared at the blond ahead of her, he had his hands behind his head and he was chattering happily about some inane topic. Seeing him like that she felt a leaden feeling settle into the pit of her stomach, it was funny that out of everybody that she would betray to be with Sasuke he was the only one she felt guilty about doing it too. Naruto understood her, Naruto knew who she was really and he trusted her completely and utterly. Would he ever forgive her? She prayed he could, because his was the only forgiveness she wanted.

She put those thoughts and feelings into a compartment of her mind, the mind was nothing but compartments where things were placed or hidden until you wanted to think or see them. At least that's what Tsuande had told her once during their lessons. The mind, if understood, could help heal many injuries the body suffered. As a medical ninja Sakura had been forced to learn to compartmentalize her own thoughts and it came in handy because now she could focus on her immediate mission.

Keeping everybody in this group alive, which meant she reviewed every single medical supply and skills that she had. How would things work with Shino's body and the chakra bugs? Or Gaara and that sand? Naruto was the least of her worries having learned from Tsuande and some personal observations that he healed very quickly and didn't seem quite as susceptible to poisons as other people. She wasn't clear how he managed that, but as long as he didn't do anything too stupid she wouldn't worry about him.

For a moment her old insecurities welled up inside her, what if she messed up? What if she accidentally did something wrong and cost a team mate their life? Or crippled them or any of a thousand and one other things. Could she even be of any help during a battle, other than to possibly maim her team? She was going to be a burden on everyone and Naruto would have to help her, have to shoulder the consequences of her stupidity.

Then her pride flared up and turned those fears into ash. She had put in hours of effort into her training under the Hokage, probably as much as Naruto was putting into his. She wasn't just becoming a great medical ninja, she was also developing some of the sannin's legendary strength and even becoming more skilled in her taijutsu. She wasn't in Naruto's ball park yet but she was close, she could feel it. Which meant she wouldn't be a burden at all, this time she'd be out there fighting with the rest of them. 'HELL YEAH!' her inner-self shouted in agreement and Sakura allowed herself to smile.

Oddly enough, it was the same smile that Tsuande had anytime she had an excellent plan for escaping her duties as Hokage. It was a rather disturbing smile actually.

Kiba listened softly to Akamaru's whines and soft barks, not breaking stride as he took in all that his friend and pet had to tell him. He sniffed the air softly, his Chakra increasing his range. It was faint like Akamaru had told him, but it was there. The smell of old blood, just up ahead and to the left. It was nothing, probably just a wounded animal, but he'd keep his eyes opened just in case. He couldn't let his guard down, not even here in Konoha, not with these bastard's traveling with him.

He fingered the cold metal of his kunai inside his jackets pocket, listening as Akamaru barked softly telling him how close the group leader was. He refused to trust these sand ninjas, even if they had saved him during the Sasuke rescue mission. At least he wasn't alone, Shino was with him and Sakura and Shikamaru and Naruto...so he at least had four people he could count on.

He looked up slightly, listening to Akamaru carefully before he looked around considering the forest. They were definitely reaching an area he didn't have too much knowledge about, which put him on guard even more. When Akamaru barked yet again he smiled "I think so too."

"Think what?" a deep voice said from behind him and Kiba looked around at the large man following behind him.

"I was agreeing with Akamaru." Kiba answered off handily "You told us that we're going east and that's all and here we are walking through a relatively unknown area of Konoha openly. It's strange."

"We're heading to a small island off the coast of the Water Country," Baki answered blandly "The Sand Council believes that Orochimaru has hidden himself there and we're walking so openly because I figured we'd be fine for now in Konoha even if it wasn't that well known. Or are you saying that Konoha can't police its own country side?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes, snorting in disgust as he looked ahead. He really didn't like that bastard, not that it mattered. Right now he had to keep moving, keep them out of any traps because the truth was the Hidden Leaf village really couldn't police the country side like it used to. It would be very possibly for enemy ninjas to be roaming the countryside, but the Godaime had given him and Shino specific instructions to kept that fact a secret.

Akamaru barked softly and Kiba nodded in agreement not responding.

Naruto was curious, which meant of course that eventually trouble would follow. He couldn't help it however, he was a curious person by nature and he had very little reservations about following the curiosity through to the end. Currently what had caught his curiosity was the girl in front him, or more to the point her clothes.

Why, he couldn't help but wonder, was she dressed in a soft blue shirt and skirt combination with black mesh that didn't really cover either of her legs and a red sash that held her folded fan in place? There was a chill in the air and it was already past lunch time, she should by all rights, be a bit cold and he didn't think that her choice in clothes were very combat effective.

This of course was his curiosity only AFTER he had spent the last two hours staring at her legs in a rather Ero-sennin fashion. He had of course also noticed just how developed she was compared to the other kunoichi he knew, he also knew however that despite her looks she also had a short temper and a cruel streak.

Naruto resisted his curiosity for as long as he could, roughly five minutes, then he found himself tapping her shoulder. He wasn't even sure what he was going to say, it had been pure impulse on his part. When he noticed the girl glancing back at him, her gaze both annoyed and expectant, he felt himself blushing for some strange reason.

"Well?" Temari asked rather archly and he gulped, unable to form a coherent word. Snorting she turned away and Naruto couldn't help but sigh, putting his hands behind his head. Some part of him felt rather embarrassed about how tongue-tied he had just gotten. He had hoped that after so much time around Sakura and the other kunoichi he could actually form at least a single word.

"You're a smooth one." An offhanded voice said casually from behind and Naruto turned halfway to stare at the bored, black haired boy walking behind him.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto snorted, only to sputter at Shikamaru's bland answer.

"I've just spent the last two hours watching you stare at her legs Naruto."

"I was not!" Naruto declared loudly as he brought himself to a sudden stop.

"You're a noisy guy," Shikamaru muttered as the group continued past Naruto. The blond ninja scowled and hurried back into his spot. Naruto wasn't sure why he felt so bothered by someone noticing that he had been staring at a girls legs, if it had been any other girl he'd have been looking at her just the same. Wouldn't he?

He felt almost certain that he would have, after all it was boring just to walk and he had to look at something. Temari happened to have something worth watching, there was nothing else to it. He did wonder though, why he felt so unbelievably embarrassed just thinking about her legs. It wasn't like he even liked Temari, after all how could he, he barely knew her and she was mean.

Mentally sighing he allowed his attention to drift back to the girl in front of him, staring at the back of her head in silent contemplation. She had nice hair, he decided after several moments, then wondered what she would look like with her hair loose. He however wouldn't dare ask her to let her four ponytails down, that might get him hurt and get Shikamaru hinting at something. Besides, girls never did things to their hair when a guy asked unless they really liked him, so the chances of her letting her hair down for him was zilch.

Forcing his mind away from considering Temari he instead thought about his current team. He wasn't thrilled about having Kiba and Shino in this group, but he trusted them to do their best. Still the unspoken accusations in Kiba's eyes unnerved Naruto slightly. It wasn't his fault, Naruto said decisively to himself, she knew she didn't have to do it to make him proud. "Didn't she?" Naruto questioned softly looking at the path at his feet.

Like the previous times that question was asked, he received no answer and just like those other times, it was soon shelved in favor of thoughts about training and this mission. Naruto squinted his eyes, not out of boredom but because he was hard at work on a new move.

However he could feel his stomach starting to rumble and he knew that they wouldn't be stopping till late night. He was tempted to break out the ready made packs of ramen, it would taste good right about now. Placing his hands on his stomach he had to resist the urge to start drooling, just picturing the steam rising off a bowl of ramen was almost overwhelming.

He was pulled from his daydreams of ramen by the sudden feeling that someone was staring at him. Looking around like a surprised animal it took him a minute to realize that Temari was looking at him from over her shoulder. Blushing under her scrutiny he held her gaze until she looked away huffily.

Without her attention focused on him, Naruto frowned spending another six hours trying to figure out why exactly she had been looking at him. Hands behind his head he turned over every possibility he could conceive of, which being rather dim in certain matters, weren't very brilliant.

Without knowing why he glanced back at Sakura who upon noticing his attention smirked in the same disturbing manner as Tsuande. Looking away quickly Naruto couldn't help but hope she wasn't plotting something that would force him into an early grave.

Temari stared at the dimly burning embers of the fire from her position on the ground, her fingers lightly touching her fan. Across the clearing she watched as Sakura gave the dark forest one last worried glance before slipping inside her tent, leaving Temari lying beside the fire and Gaara sitting against a log. Sakura had been the last one to give up on seeing Naruto when he returned.

The blond ninja had, upon hearing that they were setting up camp for the night, slipped unnoticed out of the camp. He was out there, doing who-knew-what, but nobody had been sent after him. Despite the way the others had treated him the entire day, none of them had volunteered to go get him and Temari took that as a sign that they did fear him. Even Baki and Kankuro had rejected the idea of searching for him and nobody had been brave enough to order Gaara to find the boy and bring him back.

Temari was actually sort of glad he had disappeared, because without his constant chatter which did prove funny more often than not, she had the chance to consider everything she knew and how exactly she should manage what was required of her. Unfortunately she had spent the whole night thinking about how openly he'd been staring at her body all day, she had felt his eyes all over her body and he had made no secret of his gaze so everybody else knew what he was doing as well.

That still sent a little thrill up her spine; nobody had ever been that open in looking at her. He knew she was a ninja, he knew she was related to Gaara and he was still looking at her like that. Shikamaru had never looked at her quite that openly and the few boyfriends she'd had before him had been instistant that they kept the relationship discreet. It was her private curse for being related to Gaara, nobody wanted to get close to you or sustain a relationship when you're youngest brother was a sociopath killer that barely had a toe-hold on sanity.

Temari found herself smiling despite herself, hoping that Naruto would be just as open in staring at her tomorrow. She liked the feeling it gave her and she absently decided that seducing him wouldn't be so bad; or so hard. However the part of her mind that wasn't quiet satisfied with those thoughts reminded her that Naruto would never leave Konoha. He was too loyal for that. Still, she argued sleepily, it would be fun to try.

Without realizing it her eyes drifted closed, her breathing becoming light as she began to doze. Her dream was odd, more dreamlike than ever; centering on the fight between Gaara and Naruto. Only it wasn't Gaara the blond was fighting, it was the Uchiha and instead of the stupid pink haired Sakura that Naruto had been trying to save it was Temari. Her mind rebelled from the dream suddenly and she found herself staring across the now nearly dead embers of the fire at an entirely different Naruto than she had ever seen.

His seemingly inexhaustible energy was nowhere to be found, and that playful look that was never far away from his eyes was missing. Even the constant smile he always wore was missing. Yet he wasn't serious, or upset or even mad, he was just staring at the nearly extinguished orange-red embers in a sort of silent contemplation. Slowly he pulled his legs in to his chest and rested his chin on them, just like Gaara did when he was about to sleep. Temari however, found it disturbing to see Naruto doing that.

Should she say something or move? Would he get upset if she did or make a loud noise and wake up the whole camp? She didn't want either to happen, this was the first time they had been alone since the start of the mission. Considering all the possible situations that might arise from her letting him know she was there, she was caught off guard when he lifted his head and turned his gaze upon her. Curiosity was evident in his features, but Temari didn't notice that. She was busy staring back at him, lost on what to say or do and unable to breath.

Those blue eyes, which he normally kept in a squint, were staring at her with such intensity that it actually scared her. It was almost like he was trying to decide what to do with her, like a fox would an unexpected intruder in its den. She finally managed a breath when he seemed to reach some conclusion and looked away from her to settle his gaze back on the embers of the fire.

Convincing herself that her reactions had been due to being startled she sat up, realizing dimly that her hair had managed to work itself loose during her nap. Leaving her hair alone for a moment she focused her green eyes on the Naruto who was now smiling brightly. If she hadn't known better Temari would have sworn that the Naruto she'd seen when she first woke up had been nothing but a dream. "Where were you?"

Naruto reached up, scratching the back of his head smiling even wider "Training. I'm working on this new move and I need lots of practice," he paused, scowling at her in a comical way "And don't you tell me not to train so much. If I'm going to become Hokage someday I gotta have a lot of moves."

"So...you were just training?" Temari asked both surprised and terrified, though she hid both emotions expertly. She could see the faint traces of what appeared to be a fight, so she took at him at his word about the training. He was trying to become Hokage, which meant he was getting stronger, but what would happen when the village refused to let him be the Hokage? No village would let a monster to become a Kage, but the new question for her was he really a monster? She couldn't answer that and she wasn't about to push to find out.

Allowing herself to smile she pulled her fan into her lap and began polishing it the best she could in the dim moonlight "Sakura, that's her name right? Anyway, she and those other ninjas were worried about you." watching him surreptitiously, she noted the small frown on his face, which let her know that he didn't like people worrying about him when he was training. So he did have SOME male pride, that was useful to know.

"Does it always get this chilly here?" Temari asked suddenly, looking up from her polishing efforts to establish eye contact with him. When he looked at her again, she allowed herself to shiver hoping that he would get the hint and give her his jacket. She wasn't really all that cold, but it would be the typical romantic gesture.

Instead he grinned like a child and answered her happily "Sometimes it gets even colder. We get snow here..." Then without any real reason he began recounting one winter in which he had spent his time making snowmen on the balcony of his apartment, the giant one he had made, Snowman Hank, especially being his favorite since its head had fallen off and splattered the people on the street below. "Which of course they deserved since they were throwing ice balls at my head earlier!"

Temari couldn't help but laugh at his story and the indignant sound in his voice as he defended himself. It was silly and stupid, no other guy would have shared a story like that, at least none that she knew. "I bet your parents got a good laugh out of that uh?" she said between laughs only to realize she was the only one still laughing.

Letting her rather hallow laughter trail off she stared at the boy as he lowered his gaze, leaving her in an awkward silence. How could she have been so stupid? So simpleminded? Of course he would get upset about his parents, because they had to be just like her father, cruel. It was the only logical reason why he was always so happy around other people. Desprately she tried to switch tracks and recover from her mistake. "The desert doesn't get this-"

"I don't have parents." Naruto half-whispered cutting her off, not looking up "I never had any. I was always in a foster family, but none of them wanted me. Nobody wanted me; nobody even wanted to know I was alive or see me. The families kept throwing me out and after the last time I just stayed on my own."

"Naruto,"

Lifting his head he gave her a rare, earnest smile while his blue eyes reflected the dim glow of the dying embers. Added to this was the moon as it finally slipped out from behind the clouds over head, highlighting his hair in such a way that it made Temari realize he looked rather handsome right then. "I grew up by myself, with everybody ignoring and hating me. Then somebody noticed me, accepted me, and now I have friends. Family sort of and I'd do anything to protect those important to me."

Temari sat there, holding his now intense gaze. His promise, that he would protect those important to him, made something inside her almost scream out that she wanted to be included. She squashed it though, knowing it was only because of her loneliness and not because she actually liked him.

Still she found it odd how he had grown up in almost the exact same conditions as Gaara and came out like this instead of a killer. Shaking her head she stood her fan up before standing herself which allowed her stare down at him. "Sometimes having parents isn't a good thing..." When Naruto raised an eyebrow she took that as sign to expand on her statement and she did just that. "Father would get very angry when Gaara would disobey him and since the sand protected Gaara he took it out on those he could touch."

She paused, wondering why she was telling him this other than some part of her wanted him to know, to say something...what she wanted him to say she didn't know. Naruto remained silent for a moment, his eyebrows pulling together as he tried to understand what she was implying. Temari saw the moment it finally dawned in his eyes and swore that for a moment she had seen something evil stirring in them. But his features were soft now and she felt it was time to leave him alone.

Yanking her fan out of the ground she flipped it easily sliding it into her sash expertly. Turning she started for her tent only to stop when he said her name and frowning slightly she turned back to stare at him "What?"

"You're hair looks good like that." Naruto smiled cheesily, his innocent blue eyes wide as he stared at her.

Glad that the darkness hid the faint blush in her cheeks, that was the first time any guy had ever commented on her hair in such an open way, she snorted turning away "Whatever whisker boy, goodnight."

Naruto continued to smile until she disappeared into her tent, then when he was alone all humor left him. All that was left was a contemplative blond who looked back down at the now dead fire-pit for several long moments. Slowly he lowered his head so that his chin rested on his knees, while his eyes stared into the moonlit darkness matching the unwavering gaze of Gaara.

Neither said a word, merely stared at each other through the darkness of night, as if in some private conversation. Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara of the Desert, the monsters of Leaf and Sand.

"So...you like Ramen?"

AN:
Here's chapter two. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, Wandering Druid, who's a great beta-reader, as told me of a mistake I made. I should credit him as Wanderer3. So there, tha'ts done. Big thanks go out to him.

Geor-sama