Chapter 1

"Temari," a demanding voice called. "Temari, get up!"

Well, that was Gaara for you. There was never a please, or a choice, just an order. It's not his fault that he never learned any different, but living pretty much in solitary confinement, with everyone within a fifty mile radius scared of his mere existence, seemed to have taken a toll on his manners.

Temari groaned,and started to lift herself into a sitting position from the hard ground that she had slept on the night before. 'Where am I?' She thought, looking around at the dense forest surrounding her. 'Defiantly not the desert,' She sat there for a minute remembering her village. The miles upon miles of sand, the scorching days, and icicle nights.

Then it all came back in a jolt. 'Gaara, Kankuro and I were running. The attack to the leaf had failed. A retreat had been ordered, and we were moving back to the Wind Country.'

Gaara walked over to her and squatted beside her. "Get up," he ordered. "We need to keep moving."

She pushed herself up to a standing position. Gaara scared her, even though she knew he meant well. Well...at least she thought he ment well. But it's hard to not be afraid of someone who kills just when he gets bored.

Temari consciously pushed the thought away, and followed her two brothers who were hoping through the trees. The three were less then a day from the village, but the journey seemed endless.

Temari's photographic memory kept replaying the past month's events in her mind. She thought about all of the sand ninja who were killed in the attack, and all of the leaf ninja who had fallen at the hand of Orochimaru.

'We had aided in that killing, my brothers and I.' She thought sadly. 'Not by choice, no, it had been a direct order from the Kazekage. Our father. For some reason, he thought that the sand was better then the leaf. Maybe so, but the reality of it is that the leaf had been an ally that was irreplaceable. Our village's honor had been disgraced by the foolish move of aiding the sound nins in their attack.'

She tried once more to push away the thoughts of dishonor, and failure from her mind. Temari focused instead on the task at hand. Returning safely to the Wind Country.

The tiring journey was coming to a close. The village was within site, and the trees were becoming more and more scarce. A sure sign that the water within the ground was becoming sparse. Eventually the moisture in the ground disappeared completely, and the dirt turned to sand, it was then thatTemari knewthey were home.

Temari looked around as they entered the Village Hidden in the Sand. The buildings were built completely out of sand, (is there any other kind?) and streets were practically deserted. But then again they always were at this time of the day. This was the time that the sun was highest in the sky, heating the village to scorching temperatures. But the few people wandering the streets were dressed in desert attire.

"The Kazekage wishes to see you," Baki, said as he Approached the returning genin.

"I'm sure daddy dearest has planed a big welcome home party for his little pawns," Temari said in an irritated voice. The Kazekage, in Temari's opinion, was always playing each side of the board like a game of chess. Of course, the ultimate objective of the game is to annihilate the opposition at all costs. Which of course never ends up well for the pieces in the game that are replaceable, such as pawns.

"You will not talk about your Kazekage that way," the team's sensei, snapped at her.

Deciding that this was not a good time to argue with Baki, Temari bowed her head in apology, and they headed to meet with their father.

The Kazekage was in the grand council room, where he stood next to a window that overlooked the entire village. His back was turned to them as they were lead into the room.

He spoke to them without turning. "The honor of the village has been tainted. Many lives have been lost, and the village may have lost a powerful partner of war."

'Well duh! Wasn't I just thinking that!' Temari's mind lashed out at her father, but her mouth remained silent, not wishing to further upset him.

"There may indeed be a way to regain the leaf's trust," the Kazekage said, now pacing the length of the room.

The three siblings remained silent. Waiting to hear their father's plan to win back the leaf.

"You three are to return to the village hidden in the leaves," he started out, apparently very enthused by this. "And assist them when the sound strikes them again. Their troops were weakened greatly by the past attack, and they will need help defending their village."

'You have got to be kidding me,' Temari thought dimly.

"Kazekage," Gaara started out slowly. "I don't really think….." His voice trailed off.

Kankuro decided to pick it back up for him. "Man that really bites. We're not gonna go help out some weak nins defend themselves against Orochimaru." He crossed his arms across his chest. "They don't deserve our help."

Their father glared at them. "This is not an optional task. It is an order!" His voice boomed throughout the council room. "You will leave in two weeks for the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and offer assistance when the sound attacks them again."

This was obviously the end of the conversation. The three nins bowed their heads, a sign of respect, and left the room.

"Nice going puppet boy," Temari said directing her comments toward Kankuro. "You have officially lost us any chance of getting out of this!"

"Bastard," murmured Kankuro.