Naruto does...not belong to me T.T

Gaara would have liked nothing better than to disappear in a swirl of sand, or at least drag the Slug Princess back into the room by her pig tails. He watched Hotaru while she stubbornly avoided looking at him, pretending to examine the room. He could have cut the tension in the air with a kunai. This hadn't been the atmosphere while he and Hotaru had waited for Tsunade to come examine her.

But then, she didn't know at that point that the rumors she heard were true, he thought. Still, she hadn't demanded her contract be voided. She's brave for not trying to escape her situation. Or maybe just foolish. However, the determined look on her face at the moment reminded him of the look she had maintained even after learning his nature. No, it's not even that. What keeps her rooted here is her need to obey the force that tells her to bring Giji up short. It has nothing to do with me or her feelings on the situation.

His musings were broken as Hotaru cleared her throat softly. She didn't look at him, but she did finally break the silence. "I know nothing about your habits or schedule. I can only follow your lead and orders, and learn further by observation." She looked him in the eye. "However, if I think something is dangerous, I will be blunt. I have taken on this job, and regardless of how I feel about being stuck in a strange village while my prey gets away from me, I will perform my duties...Kazekage-sama."

Gaara met that level gaze. Usually an assertion as bold as that would have angered him, but something kept him from taking offense. The girl was setting down her half of the terms, and did so with honesty and straightforwardness. He nodded to show he acknowledged what she'd said. "No less than what I'd expect from one of my own ninjas. It's almost one. You will start your official duties tomorrow afternoon. Your time is your own until then. Just stay within the village walls. I will summon Temari to set you up in one of the extra rooms of our home, and order identification markers for you so no one questions your right to be here."

Hotaru nodded and stood while Gaara had Temari summoned. He informed Hotaru she'd meet her at her room, set her up, then show her around the area. Hotaru went about her business, and the Kazekage leaned back in his chair, glad the girl would be out of his presence for a while. The sand that had been swirling about his feet under the table due to his irritation calmed as he closed his eyes to meditate for a bit.

Hotaru walked back to her room and a controlled and steady pace. After closing her door, she sank onto her bed, the full weight of her situation falling down on her.

"Shit. How the hell did this happen?"

You've really dug yourself a hole this time Hotaru, and there's no getting out now. She sighed, then got up to start packing the few things she had. She had ditched all but her most important belongings before hitting the desert. Not that she had much to begin with. Material items had no place in her lifestyle. The money she made simply accumulated in an account, waiting for when she'd be able to settle down in peace, preferably in her home country.

A knock on her door came shortly after she had finished packing. "Come in."

Temari opened the door. "Ready?"

Hotaru shouldered her bag. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Temari led the way through a quiet part of town, towards one of the surrounding cliff faces. Built up against it, or carved from the cliff itself, Hotaru couldn't tell, but she knew it was large. She paused in the courtyard, looking around. It was a garden of a different type. Desert plants bloomed here and there, but it was the rocks that stood out. A walk wave, intricately paved, led up to the entrance. To either side, large rocks sat in the midst of rocky beds. The rocks had been raked into circles around the large rocks. Hotaru lip twitched in a small smile, realizing that the design that though those sort of designs were usually created in sand, there was plenty of that all over the terrain. Besides, this is the country of wind. I don't expect sand designs would last long. The over all picture was one of tranquility.

Temari stood by the door, waiting for Hotaru to finish her examination of the area. Temari felt no impatience with Hotaru, even if the heat was miserable. She was glad the girl had accepted the job request. If she wanted to look around the garden, Temari wasn't going to say anything. Besides, this is going to be her home for a while too. She might as well go ahead and learn her surroundings.

Hotaru noticed Temari standing by the door, and quickly strode over to join her. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Temari-san."

"Just Temari is fine. If we're going to be living in the same house, we might as well be familiar with each other from the start."

Hotaru looked a little uncomfortable. Hotaru might rarely use titles, but she rarely was in the company of those who were deserving of it. Criminals and riff-raff rarely spoke with such civility. "Thank you...Temari. If I ever seem too distant, formal, or maybe even bad-mannered, it's just because...I've been on my own for quite a while. Trust has been dangerous these past two years, and I'm not always sure how to act off the job."

Temari gave her a sympathetic look as she led her into the house. "I understand that feeling." Gaara's full trust took ages to gain despite knowing us and being his blood kin. "I'll give you the grand tour of the house."

Temari led her about the rooms on the first floor. The layout was open, allowing air to flow easily. They then went up the stairs, which led into a large loft room. On each side of the room, a small hallway jutted out, a door on each side of the hall. On the left side was an empty room facing Gaara's. To the right, Temari's room facing another empty room. Each had their own bathroom. "Kankurou has his room downstairs. A guest room that connects with what used to be an office." Temari explained. "He likes to work on his puppets, and hates dragging stuff up stairs all the time. Not to mention the extra room for his puppets keeps his actual bedroom less dangerous."

Hotaru nodded, and frowned as Temari began to lead her to the empty room on the right. "No offense Temari, but If I'm going to be guarding your brother, I don't want this much space separating us," she said, waving her hand to encompass the large room.

Temari sighed. "I won't argue, and you're right. Though it's open in design, the fact it's made of rock causes most noise to be absorbed into the walls. You wouldn't be able to hear anything that could happen to Gaara from the room by mine. Gaara just hinted it would be preferable." Temari shrugged, not really concerned Gaara's plan didn't play out. "He's just going to have to get over the fact he has a bodyguard now. The council hasn't assigned him an assistant or anything because Kankurou and I usually do a fine job in that department. However, we're gone on missions and ambassadorial duties too often to be proper guards."

"Ah, so that's why they brought in someone else," Hotaru said as she entered her new room. She whistled admiringly. "Wow."

Temari opened a balcony door, which faced a separate garden from the courtyard area. Glancing out, she could see another balcony with the same view. Gaara's balcony.

Having pushed back the protective shutters, Temari closed out the heated air again. "What do you think?"

"I can't remember the last time I was in a place as nice as this." She internally grimaced at the dual meaning of that phrase. "Staying in upscale places just attracts attention as a bounty hunter. I think the biggest room I've ever had this bed alone would fill up," she said, examining the queen size bed with sky blue sheets.

Temari looked at her. "Seems to be a hard way of life. It appears to have left its mark on you, living like that." She watched as Hotaru nodded, too engrossed with examining her new room. She noticed Hotaru seemed to examine all the places she came to. It didn't bother her. Ninja tended to take on that same trait. It was a good one to have. She opened up the large wardrobe. "You can put your clothes in here. There's also a safe if you have any valuables you don't want to have to worry about. Especially if you don't want them gritty. Gaara keeps his share of it under control, but living in the desert...well, sand just gets everywhere."

Temari cast her a grin. "I can imagine." She took the few articles of clothes she had out of her bag. All, including what she was wearing, were the color of the sands she'd been wandering through for weeks. All were also very worn. She tossed them aside. "Good thing you wanted to show me around the market. Time to pick up some new things. I'm glad I transferred my funds to the Sand banks. Looks like I might actually make a dent in them for once."

"Don't shop much?"

"No. No point. Just stuff to carry around, or have to put away in storage. However, since it looks like I'm going to have a more settled life style, might as well go ahead and get things all at once, instead of putting off until right when I need them."

Temari smiled. Having two brothers, she rarely had the occasion to enjoy some of the more feminine activities. But just because she was a ninja didn't mean she didn't enjoy doing girly things now and then. Hotaru didn't appear to be the 'shopping' type, but Temari didn't mind. "Well, since you obviously need a bunch of stuff, I know the perfect place..."

Next time: ...Kankurou wondered if he should leave him be...She usually observed from the sidelines, not jumped into the middle of the crowd...If Temari wasn't the sister of her new boss, she would have started making revenge plans.