The next day, Gaara led her through town wordlessly but he was constantly peeking out the corner of his eye at her. A sly smile tugged at his lips but he kept it buried, afraid to give away some secret.

"What are you up to?" Beki gave him a suspicious look, her face pulling into a frown. "I don't like this."

"Shh." Gaara squeezed her hand. "We're almost there."

Beki watched their surroundings in an attempt to predict where he was taking her. It wasn't in the same direction as any of the restaurants or shops he'd taken her to in the past. Based on her own adventures through the streets with Yuki, Beki couldn't place the neighborhood. It seemed awfully quiet for Gaara to be so excited to take her there. I really hope he isn't taking me to the graveyard or something. Beki shuddered, not because that was a bad idea, but because growing up around the shrine and in the ancient town below, Beki had spent a fair amount of time wandering the historic graveyard with Ren. During her travels with her dad, it had almost become a hobby. Seiichiro said you could learn a lot about a people by how they treated their dead. What Beki worried about most was how that would look to Gaara, how engrossed Beki could get about tombstones and crypts. An unusual interest in cactuses was cute and quirky. An unhealthy knowledge about cemeteries was unsettling.

"We're here." Gaara let his grin surface and Beki almost sighed aloud with relief. He had brought her to Suna's academy. "I know how much you enjoy children and they don't often get to lay eyes on a shinobi from so far away."

"Oh, you're showing me off like some sort of circus animal?" Beki cocked an eyebrow. "Classy, Gaara." She gave him a faint grin to show that she was joking. Or at least, half joking. She really didn't know if she was being shown off as a foreign ninja or as the Kazekage's girlfriend.

Gaara cleared his throat. "Just so you're aware…Suna kids can be a little rough."

Beki looked around at the barren village, cracked concrete and weathered buildings all around. "I can imagine."

"Alright. They're waiting for us." Gaara led her through the doors.

"How long did you have this planned?" Beki looked at him.

Gaara shrugged. "Shortly after we set the dates the idea occurred to me. The sooner the villagers get used to you being a fixture here, the easier I think your transfer will be for all parties involved."

Beki's stomach turned a little as he spoke. I thought we had shelved that conversation for a while.

The school was like all the other buildings in Suna: constructed in clay brick with plaster walls and stone floor. It was cool inside; Beki didn't see any windows. The building seemed to be exclusively lit by electric lights. Gaara wove through the halls like it were his own home, eventually leading her to a room that based on the "artwork" on the bulletin board outside had to be full of kindergarten or first graders.

With a quick grin at Beki, Gaara knocked on the door. A voice beckoned them inside and Gaara opened the door to cheers. A small smile tugged involuntarily at Beki's lips. They love him, he's their hero. It was a hard act to follow but Beki crossed the threshold behind him.

The chatter stopped and Beki had sixteen pairs of eyes glued to her.

"Hello everyone," Gaara gestured to Beki. "This is the friend I told you about. She's traveled a long way here from Getsugakure."

The teacher, who Beki had just noticed, was a hard looking middle aged woman with chin length brown hair. She looked expectantly at her students: "Where is Getsugakure?"

"The Land of the Month?" One child called out.

"No," The teacher sighed. "We went over this." The children all started talking to one another, their bodies wiggling in their seats as the volume raised significantly.

"The Land of the Calendar!" Another child called out, sure of their answer.

"The Land of the Moon." Beki grinned. "That was close. You guys are clever, trying to guess based on the 'Getsu' part. It's one of those words that has more than one meaning. You know, like how a bow can be something you put in your hair or you shoot an arrow with. 'Getsu' can mean month or moon."

The teacher had been watching Beki's reaction to the ruckus. Impressed, or at least satisfied, the teacher nodded. "The Land of the Moon is in the Kaijuu Ocean to the southeast of here."

"I have an uncle with a scar that looks like a moon!" A boy called out and the teacher shushed him.

Beki smiled at the teacher and shrugged. This had nothing on wrangling preschoolers at the academy in Konoha. These kids were sitting, fully potty trained, and no one was trying to eat dirt. Or crying. Yet.

"Do you have any questions for Tsukimori san?" The teacher looked at her students. "About being a shinobi, or what its like in her village?"

A little girl raised her hand and Beki pointed at her. "Go ahead."

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

The question caught Beki off guard. She had been expecting the usual stuff about weapons or what trees looked like. Now, had she been wearing the armor, that question wouldn't have seemed so strange. It was big and boxy and flattened out anything with curves. Today Beki was wearing a pair of leggings and a blousy shirt. She made a habit of wearing sports bras so that played down her chest, but still not so much that she would expect a passerby to think she was a boy. "I'm a girl," Beki laughed, her best attempt at sounding good natured.

"Are you sure?" The girl narrowed her eyes. "Your body looks like a girl but you have a boy face."

The teacher shot her a look that could cut glass and the girl went quiet. Beki cleared her throat. "Anyone else?"

A boy called out: "If you're this big, how big are the boys in Getsu?"

"I'm tall. Even for boys in my village. People are about the same size there as they are in Suna." Beki looked at the other children. "Do you guys like going to the beach? We have beaches in Getsu, too. The water is warmer than it is by the Land of Wind because the ocean by us isn't as deep-"

"Are your eyebrows always like that?" Another little girl called out but she was deep in the pack and was too quick to be identified.

"Anything about Getsu? What any of the other kage are like? I've met all of them but the Tsuchikage-" Beki was trying to think of anything that could draw their interest and distract them from her. "Do you guys like ghost stories? We have some really scary ones from where I come from. Super spooky stuff."

"This is boring." A small voice said in the silence. "She doesn't even catch fire."

"Oh," Beki laughed uncomfortably. "That isn't something I just do whenever. I have to be upset. Really sad or angry. I'm meeting new friends today, making friends doesn't make me sad or angry." She glanced at Gaara and he gestured toward the door.

The teacher faced the class. "Say thank you to Tsukimori san."

The students stood and bowed and gave the most half hearted thank you Beki had ever heard. She followed Gaara out of the room with a confused look her face. "What was that about? Is my reputation that bad in the ninja community?"

Gaara sighed. "No, this is my fault. I might have let it slip that you had a kekke genkai that let you be on fire and not burn."

Beki furrowed her brow. "Then of course I disappointed them! There's nothing kids love more than fire!"

"I was impressed how well you kept your cool." Gaara took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I was starting to worry they had gotten under your skin. I don't know what I would do if you actually went up in public."

Beki shrugged. "As long as you aren't within arm's length you don't get more than singed."

"I meant about how you would lose all your clothes." Gaara looked her over. "That's something I like to think of as mine. I don't know what I would do if everyone in town knew what you looked like naked."

Then don't ask anyone in Konoha, Beki thought. She had borrowed aprons, flak jackets, and robes from more people than she could count. For a while, when things were really unstable, Neji got in the habit of wearing an extra undershirt in case she combusted. It was long enough to keep her decent until she could get home and had saved her from additional embarrassment more times than she could count. She wasn't sure what Gaara would do in that situation. Wrap her in sand? Would he have to unstrap his harness to give her his jacket, which was hot and heavy leather and would probably drag along on the ground after her? No. Beki almost laughed at the thought. He would never be around when it happened. I'd probably end up having to borrow from strangers here, too. Based on the behavior of the kids in that class and how villagers looked at her on the street, Beki wasn't so sure they'd be as chill about lending out clothes to the girl that caught fire.

…

When Kankuro got home that night, he came through the door with a few steaming boxes of pizza. "What's that for?" Gaara asked.

"Hey, I know this is like your guys' little hang out time, but I get lonely too, you know," Kankuro set the pizza on the table. "I thought this might be enough to convince you to let me in on the fun."

"No threesomes," Beki called from the couch. Kankuro laughed but Gaara kept silent, his mouth hanging open in shock and his face twisted in horror.

"It was a joke, Gaara." Kankuro sighed. "I meant I wanted to hang out with you guys and Beki made it sound twisted."

"You make it too easy," Beki laughed as she got up from her seat. "What did you have in mind?"

Kankuro shrugged. "I don't know. We have more board games than you can shake a stick at in the hall closet."

Ugh. Beki kept a smile on her face but the idea was less than appealing. She had spent more Saturday nights than any teenager should with her friend's family instead of doing, well, teenager stuff. Hyuga family game night was one thing, now she was going to spend her vacation time playing board games with Gaara's family? Beki followed the boys to the closet anyway. At least Kankuro had a good sense of humor, and it seemed like when he was around Gaara loosened up a little, too. When he opened the door and Beki saw the options, she couldn't contain herself:

"Weeeeaaaaak."

Kankuro shot her an exasperated look. "Okay, you have to forgive the fact that somebody didn't have the patience for long games when we were kids."

Beki looked at Gaara and he shook his head. "He's talking about Temari."

"The first time we played Monopoly," Kankuro pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his mop of brown hair. "She was the bank. We had to keep our money perfectly organized, in order, and all of our properties as well."

"It eventually turned into us vs. the bank," Gaara sighed. "That was the worst twelve hours of that summer."

"It was so bad, any time we ever played it again Gaara had to be banker." Kankuro folded his arms and Beki raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't he like, super angry and violent as a kid?"

Gaara gave her a sidelong look. "I had some good qualities, Beki."

"Yeah," Kankuro nodded. "He was always honest and fair at board games. Spam kicking asshole in video games, but a good banker."

Gaara shrugged. "Get good."

Beki shook her head and stepped past Kankuro to get a better look at the games while the boys argued about whether the zombie fire shinobi or the ice clone shinobi was better. She had no idea what they were talking about and zoned them out after a minute. There was a trivia game but the last thing Beki wanted to do was to think about obscure geography facts and try to remember the names of actors in movies from thirty years ago. There were several two player only games, which although could be run tournament style, would still ultimately end up being too boring. "Do you guys just want to play poker?"

Kankuro sighed. "Are they all that bad?"

"Do you not like card games?" Beki cocked her head.

"We just play a lot of cards." Gaara folded his arms. "Kankuro and I end up waiting for a lot of meetings together."

Beki nodded and went back to the closet. "Okay. Then how about charades?"

Kankuro gave a half shrug and a nod in assent. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm not…I'm not very good at charades," Gaara apologized.

Kankuro gave him a playful sock on the arm. "I got you." He walked over to the fridge and pulled out one of the bottom drawers. Behind the drawer, beer cans were taped to the back of the fridge. He peeled them out one by one, replaced the drawer, and closed the fridge. Gaara looked up at him with a confused expression.

"That was genius." Beki grinned. "When did you come up with that?"

Kankuro coughed. "I, uh, might have learned that from dad."

Gaara's expression darkened. "Was he a closet alcoholic?"

Kankuro held up his hand, his index finger and thumb almost touching. "A little bit."

Beki shrugged and took the offered beer. "Not bad. Thanks!"

"I figure this will help loosen everyone up." He nudged his brother. "Especially some people."

"I get you mean me," Gaara shook his head and took a beer can. "I don't see why we need this to have a good time."

"I don't know, I'm curious to see what you're like with a little alcohol in your system." Beki gave him a playful smile. "You've seen me tipsy."

Kankuro gestured to Gaara. "He couldn't get drunk when he had the One Tail. Burned through the alcohol before it hit his system."

"So is this the first time you've tried to get drunk since then?" Beki asked.

Gaara popped the top on his beer and shook his head. "I'm not going to try to get drunk."

The trio started off slow, the charades obvious. After they'd finished their beers, Kankuro went and fished more out from behind the other fridge drawer. They were higher proof than Beki was used to in a beer but her tolerance for alcohol was high. Gaara, on the other hand, and even Kankuro to some extent, were much more affected. The mood lifted and the charades got silly. It was all fun and games until Gaara put his foot through an antique screen. Almost immediately, the pair sobered up and the boys had to run out in the middle of the night to have it repaired before Temari got home. Before they ran off, Beki learned through conversation that the boys had struck up friendships with all kinds of repairmen and laundry women in the village to rescue them from Temari's wrath. It was enough to leave Beki wondering why their sister wasn't the Kazekage. She sat there at the kitchen table by herself stewing on life.

The pizzas Kankuro had brought home were all but gone. She took the boxes into the kitchen and packed up the last few pieces. Both pizzas had been saturated in meat, totally the sort of thing brothers should be eating on a game night. The only problem was it was too much for Beki. Bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and bits of ham just looked like a stomach ache to her. It wasn't that Beki had a weak gut but she was a little sensitive to greasy food. Not that it would make her have a serious reaction; Beki would just get indigestion and maybe pay for it in the bathroom the next day. She'd managed to find a piece that hadn't been so loaded but one slice was hardly enough to hold Beki over. Beki hadn't wanted to seem rude; Kankuro had been the one to bring them home. Part of her thought about Gaara, though. Shouldn't a boyfriend be able to notice tummy problems? Beki was sure she had mentioned it at some point. He should have at least noticed that Beki had hardly eaten, when normally she scarfed down food like a farm hand. Then again, they hardly spent any time together in person. It was a lot to expect him to notice subtle cues like that.

…

It was a beautiful, clear, moonless night. The sky in the desert wasn't a pure black, the way it looked most places. It was the deepest shade of blue, brightening to purple near the horizon. There was so little light disruption that Beki could see more stars than she'd ever seen in her life. Unfortunately, that meant it felt like the two were floating in the void. Everything around them was the purest darkness. It was an absolute abyss with not so much as the whisper of wind. Beki kept her mind off the gut clenching horror of that hovering truth by focusing on the gorgeous cosmos above. In places, it looked like long stretches of bright clouds were in the sky. There were stars in front of them, though, more than she could ever count. Beki couldn't remember seeing the cloudlike patterns before and was trying her best to commit them to memory. There was no telling when there would be another view like this again.

The sand cloud Gaara had them on was high enough that Beki didn't dare to look down. Despite the heat during the day, it was bitter cold at night, so the two were snuggled up under a blanket. Beki for the first time ever was grateful for the sand: where she laid warmed with her body heat and retained it. Gaara had his arm under her neck for a pillow while he held her hand in his.

"Maybe if we have time next week and things are quiet enough, we'll go back out to the beach." Gaara stroked her hand. "I think back to that weekend a lot. The good parts of it."

Beki's mind immediately went to the terrifying laugh of the One Tail, the smoke and destruction of the Akatsuki attack. "Yeah."

As they lay there, Beki could feel his breathing slow. "Oh, don't you dare fall asleep!"

"Sorry," Gaara let out a sleepy laugh. "This is just too relaxing. It's such a nice night…and having you here…" Gaara rolled over and snuggled into her neck. "I could live like this, Beki."

She stayed silent but reached up and ran her nails gently along his scalp, through the mess of his scarlet hair. She could feel the sand cloud loosening and shook Gaara. "If you're falling asleep, we should go back. You can't keep up a jutsu while you're sleeping and I'm not spending the night in the desert."

"Okay." Gaara sat up and kissed her with a lethargic grin. "Let's go home." He pulled her into his arms and kept the blanket around them both as he flew. Beki had no idea how he could find his way in the dark, but Gaara got them home all the same.

…

On the sixth day, Beki headed up to his office same as usual. As she approached the bridge, Gaara's guard called out for her to halt. She shook her head and laughed.

"Very funny. I know this is the first time you've seen me in a dress but I swear I'm not an imposter."

"The Kazekage is in an important meeting." The guard said, a hand raised. "He left instructions for you to head to his house. He will meet you there later."

Beki blinked. An emergency must have popped up. She hadn't heard any whispering or seen an unusual behavior in town earlier. Yuki hadn't mentioned anything, either, and if anyone had the pulse on a place it was her. Whatever the crisis was it was occurring outside Suna. These things happened, though, so Beki nodded and headed on her way. Gaara had left her a key to borrow in case she needed to stop in during the day. She let herself inside and stared into the empty house.

It was deathly quiet, like a school in the summertime or a hospital that had closed its doors for good. The expectant, sentient kind of quiet that saw things, knew things, and kept secrets. Beki found it unsettling. She had been in plenty of old buildings, the kind people would expect to be haunted, and yet they were always full of comforting noise. Clocks ticking, pipes banging, old floorboards popping back into place. This house kind of reminded Beki of the desert itself: seemingly empty and barren but fully alive, full of predators and prey, life and death.

There was a meticulously arranged bookshelf in the living room. Beki walked over, haphazardly picked a chapter book, and plopped unceremoniously on the couch. The book wasn't trash, disappointingly, but a dry textbook like account of politics in early Suna. The paragraphs ran together the longer Beki read them, the words blurring on the page. She scoffed and tossed the book on the coffee table as she pressed her palms to her eyes. Beki held them there, seeing stars and spots swirl as she gently applied pressure to her aching eyes. It was a little cool in the house, or at least cool enough that Beki's inactivity had caught up with her and given her a chill. She pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over herself. It was comfortable nestled into the leather with the surprisingly plush afghan to keep her warm. While Beki wondered if it was a recently made afghan or some family heirloom, she didn't notice her eyes growing heavy.

The sound of a key in the lock pulled her back into consciousness. Beki was surprised to find that the world was dark.

How long was I asleep?

"Hey," Gaara called out as he flicked on the lights. "Sorry that ran so late."

Beki shrugged as she blinked at the aggressive blinding light. "What was the emergency?"

Gaara came around the couch and sat down by her feet. Beki pulled herself up into a sitting position, still wrapped in the warm blanket. He held out a small brown paper bag and gave her a sheepish smile. "I got you something for your patience. It's your favorite."

Beki took the bag with furrowed brows. She had a lot of favorite things and this bag was too light and too cold to be a kitten. A smile broke out across her face. "Ice cream?"

Gaara nodded, his eyes expectantly on her face as she opened the bag. Beki dove in and pulled out the sundae container. The moment she laid her eyes on it, Beki froze the smile on her face. It was an enormous scoop of rocky road ice cream covered with whipped cream and bananas. No hot fudge, no cherries, and probably the worst flavor of ice cream in the world. Beki hated nothing more than having her ice cream experience ruined by a wad of freeze-dried marshmallow grating against her teeth or biting down on an unexpected hunk of almond. It was the ice cream equivalent of a cement mixer full of the trash of the toppings world. "Thanks, Gaara."

His eyes were on her the whole time as she popped open the lid and started picking through the ice cream, carefully flicking out bits of junk so she could get one good spoonful of plain ice cream. The worst part for Beki was knowing that Gaara hated sweets. He had gone out of his way to get her ice cream and couldn't even make an educated guess as to what she liked. So now Gaara was just going to sit there and watch Beki as she forced down one of the worst sundaes she had eaten in her life. Beki felt the telltale hard sponge texture of marshmallow and forced herself to just swallow the rest of the bite whole. She couldn't help but think back to the last time she had ice cream with Neji. Not only did he have her whole order memorized, but other times when they had gotten ice cream together, he always made good choices, too. If Beki wanted a bite of what he had, it was always something she would never think to get, like pistachio, but it was always so good. Sometimes she'd end up eating more of his ice cream than hers. But there would be no sharing here, no chance Gaara had picked a better choice and they could share.

"Now that you're appeased," Gaara began.

Hardly.

"I have to break some news to you."

The door opened again and Kankuro came inside, his face haggard. "Hey. You have a chance to tell her yet?"

Gaara shook his head. "Just getting to it now."

Beki gave him a questioning look. "Well now my curiosity's stirred. What's going on?"

"There's something that I've been working on for a while. I didn't bring it up because, frankly, I didn't know if it was going to happen." Gaara pat her foot affectionately on top of the blanket. "For the first time in decades, there is going to be a meeting between the five kage."

"Wow," Beki's eyes widened. "That's…significant."

"Yes," Gaara smiled, reassured by Beki's understanding. "It will be in the Land of Iron and there isn't much time to prepare. Kankuro and I are going to have to leave soon to make it there in time. I guess they've been keeping the arrangements under wraps until the absolute last second as an added security measure."

Beki shrugged. "Well, cool. I can come along. I'll just send Ishida a letter letting him know that I'll be out for a few extra weeks. Mom can go back to Konoha in the meantime."

Gaara looked her square in the eye and took on the gentle tone a parent would use to break bad news to their child. "I can't take you with me, Beki. There are some important matters we'll need to discuss."

"Everyone but the Tsuchikage knows me, Gaara." Beki explained. "I won't be in the meetings or anything. I'll just do what I've been doing here: you'll go and take care of the business for the day and I'll just hang with you when you get out. The important thing is that we spend time together, right?"

"If I bring a foreign power with me to the Five Kage Summit, I won't seem objective. I'm young, Beki. I have to prove myself as someone who is worthy of title of kage." Gaara reached out and took ahold of her hand as he spoke. "Even if you weren't an ambassador, it would be poor taste for me to bring along a plus one. The security for this event is staggering and they all know I am aware of that. If I bring someone who hasn't been cleared in advance, even if they know you, it'll start things off on a bad note."

Beki's heart sank. As she watched him talk, it was as if his face slowly changed until he was a different person, a stranger. She felt a chord pluck inside her and her lip curled into a bitter smile. "So, nothing's changed."

Gaara sighed. "No, Beki. I would really like to spend some quality time with you, too. But with the state that the world is in...it's just going to have to wait."

"You do realize how many times we've had this conversation? How many times you've told me you're sorry, that it's going to get better, I have to be patient," Beki took her hands back from him and folded them in her lap. "It's been two, almost three years, Gaara, and nothing has changed. Nothing is getting better and it's never going to because you will never change."

Beki could feel her temper flaring, boiling to the surface, putting pressure in her throat. It was building up to the point of explosion but Beki took a deep breath to stop herself from yelling. "I have done everything I could to compromise. I have tried so hard to be understanding and patient and I get nothing in return." Beki shook her head and sighed. "This week has been nice but it wasn't real. You getting off early, taking me out, staying with me through the night…it was just a show. This," Beki gestured to the slowly melting ice cream in her lap and then at Gaara. "This is the reality. Sitting around, waiting for you to show up with only an empty apology and a request to wait again."

"I appreciate your patience, Beki," Gaara tried to touch her but she swatted his hand away. It was obvious she was upset; he knew this was disappointing for her. That didn't change the fact that she was behaving rather childishly. "I haven't been the best boyfriend when it comes to putting you first. My village needs me, Beki. There are things that only I can do and so, unfortunately, what I want and what is needed of me often are in conflict."

Beki closed the ice cream back up and put it in the bag. She stood up from the couch, letting the blanket slip onto the floor as she tossed the bag on the coffee table. Gaara watched her as she scooped up her bag and started stuffing on her shoes. The temper tantrum had begun. She was huffing, her jaw jutted forward and lips pursed in a pout. Her eyes burned with indignation as she forcefully crammed things into her bag.

Gaara was exhausted. The night after he died felt like the last time he'd had a full night's sleep. Nightmares of the Akatsuki attack, the high tension dealing with enemy kage to organize the summit, the strain of managing a village that had been teetering on the brink of collapse for a generation were wearing him down. Through force of will and great personal sacrifice, Gaara had unimaginable patience through it all. Watching Beki stomp around like a petulant toddler was fraying an already exposed nerve. She was an ambassador for God's sake. Of all the people in his inner circle, she should have understood the position he was in. The ebb and flow of the political tide had taken almost as much from her as it had from him. It was in there, somewhere. The mutual understanding and appreciation that had brought them together. When he began talking, Gaara tried to keep that in mind. That didn't stop the edge creeping into his voice that caused Kankuro to snap to attention.

"I love you, Beki, more than I've loved anything in my life. You have helped me so much. You make me feel normal." Beki said nothing, so he continued, and the edge in his voice sharpened. It was nearly imperceptible, but a frown began to form. "I know this is difficult to deal with. Please understand."

Gaara stood up and tried to wrap his arms around her. He knew from personal experience how easy it was to make people inhuman when you were angry with them. Their features warped and their sins mounted until they were no longer your friend, your relative, your lover. They were a stranger. Strangers were easy to hate and attack. If he held her, Gaara knew she would start to calm down. His smell, the sensation of warmth and familiar pressure would remind her they were on the same team. Beki side stepped him. Subconsciously, Gaara clenched his fists. Beki glanced around the room, making sure not a single item of hers was left behind.

"Beki." He said softly. To her, it sounded like a plea for mercy. If her fury hadn't tunneled her vision, maybe she would have noticed the way Kankuro's face had blanched. There was a panicked quality to the way he tried to become small and invisible, how his eyes darted between them. Gaara wasn't begging Beki for mercy. He was offering it to her.

Beki became aware of a small weight pressing against her chest and fished out the necklace Gaara had given her. She pulled it over her head and tossed it at him. "Here," Beki took ahold of the door handle and looked at him over her shoulder. There was a coldness to her eyes Gaara had never seen before. He looked down at the pendant she had thrown at him. It was still warm from the contact with her skin. When he had given it to her years before, the gourd had been full of his chakra infused sand. Over time, her chakra had seeped into it so Gaara felt a little bit of both of them inside it; a physical representation of their bond. It was a promise he had made to her of the future they would share. She had thrown it at him like a piece of garbage.

"We're done. That's it, no more. When I get back to Konoha, I'm going to file a formal request that another ambassador be assigned to Suna. That way we don't have to keep this up anymore. You will have no reason to contact me and we never have to see each other again." Beki fumed.

Kankuro stepped between them. He was reacting on survival instincts that had laid dormant for years. Sleeping, but not forgotten. Try as he might Kankuro could never fully forget what it felt like, the electricity in the air just before Gaara went on a rampage. There was a critical period to diffuse him and the clock was ticking.

"This is obviously a really stressful time for everyone," Kankuro began, trying to give what he hoped was a reassuring look. "Why don't we just take a breather for a few minutes. We can sit down, maybe talk about this over some tea? Go for a walk to cool down?"

Beki gave him a scathing look. "Didn't you hear a word I just said? I'm leaving this Godforsaken town and never looking back. There's nothing more to talk about! I've just wasted the last three years of my life and I'm so damned livid I could explode!"

Gaara started laughing.

Beki's blood turned to ice in her veins. She'd heard Gaara laugh before. It had been a warm, soft, secret little thing. Like a baby chick nestled in its mother's feathers. This was different. It was loud. Raspy. Rising steadily in pitch until it bounced off the walls, surrounding her in the sound. Kankuro had backed into her, obscuring her from Gaara's view with the bulk of his body.

"This," Gaara managed between breaths. "This is how you always act when you don't get your way. You pout and stomp and storm. And when people don't cave to your petty little tantrums, you get nasty. You think of the rudest, cruelest things you can say and you spit them out like venom. In an hour you'll feel better and as long as you get what you want, you'll snap back to normal like nothing ever happened."

Neither of them dared move. The air in the room was oppressive. Smothering. Beki realized that she wasn't imagining it. Sand was leaking out of the gourd and filling the room in clouds.

"Your father spoiled you, the Hyuga spoil you, your mother spoils you," Gaara laughed again and she winced. "So what else should I expect? Respect? Patience? Compassion? Only when it's convenient for you."

"Gaara…?" Kankuro's voice was carefully measured.

"It's fine," Gaara pressed a palm to one of his eyes. "The baby can have her way. Take her to her mother so she can finish packing her things. She'll join us at the Five Kage Summit."

Kankuro glanced at Beki. She looked like a rabbit ready to bolt. He gave her a small nod and reached past her to open the door. Following his cautious lead, Beki carefully slipped out.

"Oh and Kankuro?" Gaara's voice caught them on the way out. "If she tries to leave town, arrest her."

The pair walked for several blocks in total silence. Once they were a safe distance away and the adrenaline began to subside, Beki burst into tears. Without breaking stride, Kankuro put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side.

"Hey, it's okay. You're alright."

"What was that?" Beki was shaking. "He's never…I've never…"

Kankuro shrugged. "Yeah he hasn't really lost his temper with you, huh? I know it can be scary the first time but that was nothing. A three out of ten at best."

Beki stopped, her face twisted in a mixture of horror and disgust. "So it's true? Everything everyone's ever said about him?"

"Yeah. Probably." Kankuro sighed. "He was…beyond awful as a kid. Me and Temari, when we were growing up we had Mom. Gaara had no one. Between my asshole of a dad and the Shukaku, the kid didn't have a chance. They both fed into his worst impulses. That right there? What you just saw? We woke up to that with no provocation. He started out that pissed and often ended the day in cold blooded murder."

The scared rabbit look flared up in her eyes again. Before she could bolt, Kankuro grabbed her wrist. "But that was then. He's a completely different person now. Didn't you just say he's never lost his temper at you? Has Gaara ever hurt you or been mean or cruel in any way?"

Beki stared, prodding around in the fog of her panic-stricken mind. After almost a full moment, she shook her head, her voice trembling as she spoke:

"No. He hasn't. Even…even when he thought he might have been mean he went above and beyond to apologize."

"But he's human." Kankuro let her arm go, assured by her breathing falling back into a normal rhythm. "He has his limits. You can act out like that with other people and they put up with it because they love you, right? He loves you, too. He's just starting out with the weight of the world on his shoulders and you roll up and start kicking him in the back of the knees."

"So you're saying what? I have to always be little miss perfect or I might bring back the murder hobo?!" Beki practically yelled.

Kankuro threw up his hands in frustration. "Has no one ever told you to control yourself? Ever?!"

"I control myself just fine!" Beki shouted. "He's put me through so much and I just can't take it anymore!"

"And you're perfect?" Kankuro cocked his head. "You don't ever make any mistakes or hurt anybody, even unintentionally?"

"Tch, well, no," Beki glared. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But that doesn't-"

"You-" Kankuro poked her in the chest. "Were the one that started all this. Gaara has been stumbling around in fear for three years that he isn't good enough to be loved, that one day you'll abandon him like everyone else has. So he's given you outs plenty of times. Lots of chances to bow out gracefully if you were miserable. No hard feelings and all the egg on his face because despite the punk aesthetic he's a gentleman. But no. You wanted to stick it out. Then lo and behold, the one damned time he needs you to be considerate for once, you decide suddenly this is it. This is the last straw and you're quitting cold turkey."

Kankuro had his hands on his hips and leaned down so they were eye to eye as he spoke. Beki recognized the posture as one she'd used herself when lecturing Konohamaru.

"Ever consider how that might make him feel? He's opened himself up to you whole heartedly. He's exposed his vulnerabilities and laid every insecurity bare. Knowing that, how cruel and intentional do your actions seem?"

Beki's mouth opened to respond but it hung there. She blinked several times before finally closing her mouth and settling into a grimace. "He's…he's hurt me. He's hurt me because I let him in."

"So it's okay for you to lash out and use up all that secret bitchy girl ammo you have stored up?" Kankuro asked. "Gaara may have been a psychotic little homicidal goblin as a kid, but he was never sadistic like that. That's your brand of anger problem."

She threw up her hands. "So, because I screwed up and pissed him off I'm just supposed to go with you guys now? After we've both blown up just, la de da, put it all behind us and start over fresh like nothing happened?"

"Absolutely not." Kankuro folded his arms. "You two have some serious shit to work out."

"Like what, oh wise one?" Beki rolled her eyes. "Enlighten me."

Kankuro narrowed his eyes. "My God you make a person's back hand itch. Stop being such a little brat and act like a grown up. Talk about your issues. Maybe step down from the pedestal everyone's put you on and prop him up for once."

Beki's face twisted back into it's childish rage but she stayed silent. She was too angry to banter and knew any attempt would just make her look like more of an idiot.

"You constantly bombard him with," Kankuro assumed a pose he'd seen her use and did his best impression of a whiny version of her voice. "I don't get enough time with you, you always put your job first, wah," He slipped back into himself and cocked an eyebrow. "How about you get involved with it. Take an interest in what's going on and ask him what he needs help with. It'd blow your damn mind how much quality time you get with a person when you make them feel like what matters to them matters to you."

"What are you going to tell him to work on then?" Beki folded her arms. "Prying his head out of his ass?"

"What do you think I've been doing the last three years?" Kankuro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sitting by on the sidelines eating bon bons? You two would have never gotten past awkwardly flirting if I wasn't coaching him every step of the way."

The ramifications of this revelation morphed her expression into disgust. "Ew."

"I didn't give him crib notes or anything you gross little creep," Kankuro sighed. "Now get your game face on. You have to go break the news to your mom. You heard the man. You try anything funny and I have to arrest you. I don't think your mom and an arid Suna dungeon would get along very well."

Beki growled something incoherently and stomped off.

"You'll have to do better than that," Kankuro said as he ambled after her. "Temari called me worse for eating her secret ice cream last week."

…

Yuki's eyebrows were perfect arches, her lips partially pursed. Questions rapidly formed and dissipated. None of them properly encompassed the confusion at the sudden, utter about-face her daughter had just laid at her feet. At last, enough pieces fit together to form a cohesive thought:

"So…you're going somewhere with the Kazekage and his siblings for an undetermined amount of time, at an undisclosed location, and I'm not allowed to come with?"

"Or tell anyone I went with him." Beki said as she stuffed clothes into her duffel bag.

Kankuro was sweating heavily. It had started with Gaara's temper flaring and had mounted in intensity to the point he could smell himself. Yuki clearly knew something foul was afoot. Her eyes roved between him and her daughter, sizing both of them up suspiciously. Kankuro went out of his way to seem relaxed, if not bored.

"Why did you need an escort?" Yuki asked.

"It's late and Gaara is paranoid." Beki didn't miss a beat. Kankuro had to admit he was fairly impressed. Considering she'd rode the mood swing back and forth between "berserk" and "traumatized" at least three times in the last hour she was surprisingly composed. It was almost enough to fool her mother. Almost.

"Paranoid about what?" Yuki unfolded her arms and stood at her full height. Her eyes were locked onto Kankuro now, boring holes through him. She took a step closer. He knew it was posturing, could see that she was unarmed, but he tensed for a fight just the same.

Beki zipped up her bag and turned, seeing the square up happening behind her. "His village was attacked by the Akatsuki twice. In the last one, they killed him. He's just scared I'm the next target."

"Yeah that isn't making me feel any better about this." Yuki's locked-on gaze finally broke. Her expression softened into maternal concern. "Why on God's luscious green flat earth would I let you go after a lead in like that?"

Beki caught Kankuro's gaze. He saw the shadow of uncertainty cloud her face for a moment.

Don't. Kankuro knit his brows. Please don't.

He knew Yuki would have a tough time using her insane ice witch powers considering the sky hadn't even thought about raining for months. She was well within knife range, though, and he knew Gaara's girlfriend could burst into flames at will. Karasu could do a lot, but it couldn't shield him from being flambeed. Kankuro tried to telepathically remind Beki that she had a hard time dealing with Gaara when he was slightly angry. If she killed his brother, she would really get to see him rage.

"I want to go." Beki looked at her mother with a pitiful expression. "I told you the whole reason I wanted to come out here was to work things out with Gaara. We can't exactly improve as a couple if we're apart."

Yuki was watching Beki intently for a signal or a cue she was in distress. Beki held her ground, her composure steadying as she spoke. Without turning, Yuki lashed out and snatched ahold of Kankuro's collar. She turned to meet his gaze slowly. Her eyes were too blue, Kankuro thought. Sharp and bright, like a wolf.

"You." Yuki growled. "If anything happens to her, it's you I'm coming after."

Kankuro didn't break his gaze. If she smelled weakness she would pounce. "Got it."

Yuki relaxed, releasing his collar, collapsing back into a lazy posture. She looked around the room and picked up a few of her own belongings. "Here. If you're going to be gone that long you'll need more in your kit."

"You sure?" Beki asked.

"Yeah," Yuki unzipped the corner of Beki's bag and stuffed the items inside. "Get word to me if you need help. I'll hang out in Konoha until I hear from you."

They shared a long embrace. Yuki's eyes were clouded with worry and the hug lasted longer than normal. At last, she reluctantly released her daughter and walked them to the door.

"Seriously Mom, don't follow me." Beki said when her hand hit the doorknob. "Trust me. I'll be ok."

Yuki frowned, disappointment plain on her face. "Alright. If you're sure."

Beki nodded as she walked out into the hall. Yuki watched them until they were out of sight, ready to sprint after if she saw anything untoward. Beki seemed to be aware of this because the moment they were around the corner her whole demeanor changed. She slouched, trudging stoop shouldered with a self-indulgent pout on her face. Her brows were knit and her breathing came in angry puffs like a bull. Kankuro couldn't help but notice that she was giving off heat like an oven. The air shimmered around her and he could faintly smell singed cotton.

"Paint me impressed," Kankuro exhaled. He realized he'd been holding his breath since they left the hotel room. "I think you might have convinced her."

"Barely, if we're lucky," Beki let out a groan. "Don't ask me why I did it."

"Because you know you're in the wrong?" Kankuro asked. "It sucks owning up to the consequences of your actions."

Beki threw up her hands. "I don't know, maybe? I'm kicking myself here because I just spat in the face of safety to rush headfirst back into God knows what because of, what, guilt? Social obligation?"

"Keep trying to make this other people's fault and you'll never grow as a person." Kankuro stuffed his hands in his pockets, taking a deep breath of the cold evening air. "There's nothing you can do about other people. I mean, you can model the kind of behavior you want to see. Otherwise, you're wasting your breath if you worry about anyone but you."

"So I'm not supposed to be worried about walking back in your house?" Beki cocked an eyebrow.

Kankuro shook his head. "No way. It's been almost forty-five minutes. The worst you'll have to worry about is the dirty looks he'll throw your way."

"Really reassuring," Beki rolled her eyes. "Coming from the guy who was ordered to arrest me if I stepped out of line."

"If you don't understand why he did that then you have no idea how you behave," Kankuro shook his head. "You lash out, come to your senses, and then beat a quick retreat. He only said that to make you see this through. He's a kage. How could he get anyone to respect him if he can't get the people closest to him to fall into line."

"I'm not from Suna," Beki protested. "I'm not his property. I'm really sick and tired of living my life worried about how I make other people look."

Kankuro stopped. "Okay. It sounds like you need another wake up call. I need you to listen really close. Keep your mouth shut till I'm finished, okay?"

Beki paused beside him, squaring off with him as he turned to face her.

"You. Are. Not. That. Great." Kankuro put his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently. "You are not drop dead gorgeous, genius level intellect, or god-tier powerful. Sure, you've got a cool kekke and a halfway decent pedigree. But those things are dime a dozen."

Beki set her jaw, her eyes gleaming as she battled a hurt expression. Kankuro released her, his tone softening.

"I know it doesn't sound like it but I'm not trying to put you down. I just think you have an inflated ego that needs a good swift kick to bring you back into perspective. You're a good person, you have a sense of humor, and for a girl with a jawline that threatens my masculinity, you're dorky. In an endearing way. Even though shinobi are supposed to be threatening, people seem to be comfortable around you."

Kankuro began walking again and motioned for her to follow in step. This served the purpose of giving him the excuse to turn his attention elsewhere as she dried her eyes and kept passersby from rubbernecking what probably looked like a breakup from the outside.

"I'm just trying to help you understand that you're average. Average people don't get to live for themselves. We get to be the supports to prop up the people that are truly amazing. Despite what you might have been led to believe, there's nothing wrong with that. Because those gifted people are usually special in one way and really screwed up in another. Like Gaara. He's ridiculously powerful but he forgets to take care of his basic needs."

Beki folded her arms and let out an exasperated sigh. The pair walked in silence the rest of the distance to the house. He led her inside. The pair were greeted with smell of stew and the sound of dishes clattering.

"Oh, Kankuro. You're home," Temari's voice was like a slap in the face.

After the multiple verbal spankings she'd received that day, the last thing she wanted to do was to deal with Temari. Beki subconsciously let out the tiniest whimper but the sound was enough to draw attention.

"Ohhh," Temari's tone took on a sharp edge. "I thought you were alone."

"Did he tell you yet?" Kankuro asked as he stepped aside to let Beki into the room.

"Tell me what?" Temari asked as she ladled stew from a take out container into a bowl.

"Tsukimori's coming with us to the summit." Kankuro folded his arms, bracing for the inevitable storm that would follow.

Temari scoffed and shook her head. "I knew he was upset about something. This makes sense."

Beki felt her gut sink. If she had been smart, she would have asked her mother to help her escape. Better to lose her job as an ambassador and get shipped back to Getsu than deal with someone else's snippy family.

"Have you eaten?" Temari held out the bowl of stew to her.

The outstretched food caught Beki offguard. She blinked a few times before remembering herself and shaking her head. "No, thanks. I don't have much of an appetite."

Kankuro put his hands around his mouth and whispered a little too loudly:

"Gaara lost his temper."

Temari's eyes went wide and she blinked. "Really. Well, you'll have to forgive him. He's been under a lot of stress as of late."

Beki gave a sort of dismissive half shrug. "It's fine."

"No, it isn't." Temari gestured at her with the stew. "But don't let temporary emotions force you into decisions that will hurt you later. You'll need the strength to travel so make yourself at least eat some of it."

Beki accepted the steaming bowl, mindless of the hotspot Temari tried to avoid as she handed it to her, and headed to the table.

"I already brought some up to him," Temari replied to Kankuro's head jerk in the direction of the stairs.

Kankuro had taken off his hat and draped it over the back of the chair as they sat down to eat. Beki was doing her best not to stare at how painfully average the guy was; in plainclothes and no makeup he would be downright forgettable. She glanced back and forth between the siblings. She'd never been in this close proximity to them in such informal conditions before. As they all took spoonfulls of stew, Beki searched them for common features. The only siblings she'd spent any length of time with had been her father and her uncles. The three had been in the same room less than a handful of instances in Beki's life and her memories of those occasions were vague. The brothers had all been varying shades of blonde, towering in height, and shared jaws that could cut glass. Other than that Beki didn't really think they much in common. Even without Gaara present, however, Beki could still see all the Sand siblings' similarities. Temari and Gaara had the same nose, Kankuro and Gaara had similar builds despite their different heights, and Gaara and Temari's eyes were the same almond shape.

Kankuro exhaled loudly and rapped the table with his fists, breaking what had stretched to a lengthy silence. "Okay, I wasn't going to say anything but it's still eating at me. Does your mom actually think the earth is flat?"

"No." Beki snorted mid chew. "Her and Kakashi have this running joke right now where they're trying to trick Naruto into thinking he's had it wrong this whole time."

Temari cocked an eyebrow. "That sounds like one of your pranks, Kankuro."

He beamed proudly. "I had Gaara convinced for three months that chocolate milk came from brown cows."

"He was six and very sheltered," Temari frowned. "That's not something to be proud of."

"I know he had a total meltdown but that thirty seconds after he asked Dad to buy him a brown cow so he could have fresh chocolate milk," Kankuro laughed. "Dad's face still busts me up."

"Along with all our dishes at the time. I found a hunk of one of the old mugs when we had the stove replaced last month." Temari sighed but her expression softened into a small smile. "Gaara was awfully cute when he was pouting about how that meant there were no strawberry cows either."

Beki caught herself smiling along with them. "Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun."

Kankuro shrugged. "I know our family was dysfunctional as hell but we were just kids. What about you Tsukimori? Your dad didn't strike me as the funny type."

"He was always pretty stoic because of his job but deep down he was a big softie." Beki toyed with a carrot in her bowl. "He'd act all tough and stern but he'd watch whatever kid movie I wanted to see. He even asked one of the women working in A's office to teach him how to braid my hair. I never knew another man who understood the value of a good hair tie."

Temari gently socked Kankuro. "Why'd you never learn how to do my hair? I taught you how to put on make up!"

Kankuro leaned out of the line of fire. "You always yelled at me for being too rough with the brush!"

"If a behemoth like the Reaper could learn how to braid, so could you!" Temari huffed.

"I didn't say he was gentle," Beki laughed. "It was braided so tight I could've used it as a whip. I ended up teaching myself after a while because he pulled it back so ferociously my hairline was receding."

The tension finally broke between the three, they fell into comfortable conversation. Temari was more direct than any of the girls Beki knew her age. In a way, she reminded Beki of her mother if she were more serious and less of an attention hog. As the pleasant talk came to a natural conclusion the three cleaned up dinner and began preparing for the next morning. There was nothing for Beki to do; the two were following a methodical routine they had clearly practiced for years. Besides, she knew there was no point in avoiding it. She needed to go upstairs and face Gaara.

Thanks for reading the beginning of the alternate aka Gaara ending. If there were any questions you had or scenarios you ever wanted to see included in the story, feel free to PM me. I always look forward to hearing what you all think! Thank you in advance :B