4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto's characters or Naruto's world. That statement is valid for the whole story, not only for this chapter. For that matter I do not own the idea of arranged marriage either :)


Hello :)

This is a remake of really old FF of mine.

Hope you have fun reading it. I would appreciate in you left a review as well :)

I will occasionally update when I see a mistake.


Decision

"Temari-sama, what are the orders?" A teammate asked while they were hiding behind some thorny bushes. one of the team asked as they all squatted behind a few thorny bushes.

She observed the situation carefully… There were six men… They weren't from Akatsuki and they didn't have any other distinctive marks she could use to determine their belonging. That's why she didn't push herself to give an answer right away.

"We will follow them into formation. You will lead the square," she whispered without taking off her narrowed green gaze from them.

The man who had asked for orders made some signals with his hands for the two ninjas left and everyone prepared themselves to jump…

"Go!" the woman said quietly and squatted. The others did the same.

Then the fog came. It began crawling fast, wrapping in mist everything around.

"All stop!" Temari yelled and stopped dead in her tracks. They could see nothing… She couldn't see her own hands and they were just in front of her face… 'This mist isn't the usual one…' she thought to herself as she remembered where exactly the shinobis could learn that ability.

"Now what?" a voice said with a jesting tone. "What do you think you could do?"

The woman's face got frightened for a second, but after that she scowled and clinched her jaw.

"Who are you?" she asked angrily.

"Who are we?" another voice said. "We are just those you shouldn't have gone after…"

Somebody screamed behind her… Her eyes widened:

"Minna!" someone else yelled.

Minna, she repeated in her mind. He was one of her mеn…

"That was the end." Temari declared coldly. "All the kindness ends here…"

She took down the fan from her back and said commandingly:

"Now I will just get rid of this fog!"

Steps echoed in the hallway outside. Someone was running… running fast, actually. Gaara frowned and just was about to lift his head, as his elder brother rushed into the office.

"Gaara!" he yelled while trying to catch his breath. His face was visibly pale even under his makeup. "Temari…"

There was no need for something more to kick out the usually composed man from his chair. After less than 5 seconds the two young men were running along the hallway as fast as they could.

"What happened?" the Kazekage asked while they were going down the stairs.

"They got attacked… The others are dead…"

Gaara's gaze darkened and he increased the pace. Soon they got out of the building and rushed into the hospital. Kankuro smashed the front door with his hands and headed to the urgent ward. There were nurses and doctors in the way, looking at them critically. There were even remarks like 'This is Hospital! Don't run!'… But neither of them took notice of any of it. Kankuro turned around the corner and stopped at the door labeled "urgent ward". The red-haired man was following him like a shadow..

"No, you can't come in right now!" one of the nurses yelled, ran ahead and stood in their way. "Temari-sama is in critical condition."

"Get out of my way!" Kankuro shouted angrily and she should have been an idiot to not see he was out of his mind. "My sister is in there!"

There was pure fear on the woman's face. Gaara just scowled, grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to the side.

"It is not a good moment to contradict him." he said quietly and entered the room after his brother.

Kankuro stood near the bed with a blank expression on his face. The Kazekage froze in place. He had never seen his brother looking like this before. Even when he fought in a really tough battle he looked like… He had those flames in his eyes warning of surprises. Now his gaze was… was… empty?

"Temari…" Gaara whispered quietly when his gaze laid on her.

The blond woman seemed unconscious, completely indolent, pale… She had two penetrating wounds – one in the stomach and one on the upper side of her left shoulder. Her left arm seemed dislocated and hung lifeless on the side of the bed. Her whole face was dirty, covered with blood from her broken nose and crushed mouth. Her clothes were ripped and soaked with blood – that indicated other open injuries hidden at first sight.

Suddenly she tightened up and winced in pain…

The medics started to make a fuss around her. The main medic grabbed Kankuro's shoulder and shook him:

"Get out! We can't do anything for her while you are here and we are trying to avoid you all the time."

"Temariiiiiii!" he shouted at her even if he knew that she wouldn't hear him… or at least she wouldn't answer.

Gaara pushed his brother out of the door. Like it or not, now they should obey the people who could do something. Because neither of them could do anything. So they sat down on the hallway's benches in front of the urgent ward. They were silent… Their gazes staring at the floor, each of them lost in his own thoughts. Their nostrils filled up with the nasty scent of bleach with every breath they took, but they didn't seem to care. Two hours passed in complete silence... The only clear sound were the footsteps of the nurses rushing past Kankuro in case he decided to ask something they wouldn't be able to answer. The hall was sound-proof so there wasn't anything coming from the inside. After the third hour, Kankuro finally spoke:

"It was broken…" he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the floor.

The red-haired man lifted his head of his palms:

"What are you talking about?"

"Her fan was broken," he said through clenched teeth.

Gaara looked up at his elder brother for a couple of minutes… And then he nodded… Her fan had never been broken. She always managed to keep it intact somehow. It was a symbol for her, just as it was a symbol for her elder brother – it was showing her strength, firmness and destructive force – all of this preserved in something so beautiful and fragile as a fan. And Gaara had never seen his sister in such a condition. She always managed to keep a serious demeanor or a mischievous smile and strange glow in her green eyes. She was always standing proud, confident and even arrogant at times… And now? That woman laying there didn't even resemble his sister. He sighed: But now she needs us to be there for her… He gazed at Kankuro who had forgotten to take off his hat until now. I have to do something. I can't just sit here and wait,Gaara narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly the Kazekage got up on his feet.

"Where are you going?" Kankuro asked.

"Someone has to know who attacked Temari and the others. I'll write to Tsunade-hime… Konoha is the only ally that we have left now and…" he never finished but rushed back to his office.

Godaime – The Fifth Hokage of Konoha. The woman called Tsunade was around 50 years old but she didn't look over 30 in fact. Her hair was long, blonde and most of it was tied in two loose ponytails, laying over her back. The gaze of her amber eyes was often stern and tart…

However, her not modest bust was the first thing one would be drawn to look at if seeing her for the very first time. Though the people paying too much attention to it, would usually fall victim to her rage. Which was a paradox since she was the best existing medic to be found and her rage's victims needed the best medical service one could provide.

Tsunade then sat down behind her desk and started reading the note from Sunagakure. She restresly ran a hand through her hair. Then leaned back, closing her eyes for just a moment. She began to tap her nails on the desk nervously.

"Tsunade-s…" the door opened with caution.

"OUT!" Godaime shouted and the woman, attempting to open the door, shut it right away.

Tsunade's assistant had short black hair, black eyes and troubled facial expression most of the time. It was not an easy task to work with Godaime. Her imperious, short-tempered nature really induced fear. Adding the fact she could easily break a whole tree or make a huge hole into the floor when she was angry (and she was easily getting angry), one can say she could induce 'great fear'. Her yelling could be heard from afar and her eyes could throw lightning bolts… At least people standing in front of her tended to think that way.

Having such a head leader, Konoha was well defended in case of danger, though this didn't change the fact that the head was having nasty nature. What Godaime needed right now was some time, some peace and… a cup of sake. The sake wasn't something she could freely have during work time. But recently she has been restrained from drinking as much as she wanted even after work. Her assistant, named Shizune, very conscientiously took care of the sake to end immediately, whenever Tsunade went…

Godaime tapped her nails on the desk for a couple more minutes, then she took clean paper and a pen. She tapped the pencil's tip on the paper and slowly wrote Gaara's name, Kazekage of Sunagakure…

Gaara opened the folded paper. His gaze slid quickly over the paper's surface. His eyebrows raised with pure surprise when he reached one particular sentence. He read it a few times, just to be sure he understood it correctly. Then he put the paper aside, a thoughtful expression on his face. Shortly after, there was approval appearing on his face. Just before he got this note, there had been a written inquiry from another village about Sunagakure's eventual change of allies. He still hadn't replied. He evaluated highly the union with the Village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure. Their shinobis had saved him in the past not once, but twice in fact. One could count on them. He knew that from the most valuable source - and was there a source more valuable than personal experience?

Tsunade's offer, contained in the note, was pointing at a way for strengthening the union between the two villages - of the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Leaf. It was old-fashioned, easy to do and highly respected in all the other villages. The answer was so simple that only a genius mind could think of it. Or, apparently, someone with greater life experience…

Gaara picked up the note and continued reading it. The text was informing him that Konoha's shinobis had also been attacked. Fortunately they didn't have any victims and even had brought a body for autopsy. When they had any further information, they would send the results to Suna. That would be very valuable information. If the union was called off, he wouldn't get that information. Gaara suspected that the ninjas Temari and her team fought with were from "The other union". And if they dared to attack Suna now, when Suna had an ally, what would they do if the union with Konoha was to be called off?

The red-haired man sighed, thinking 'Who would get the job done?'. He thought of every single option and they all seemed unsuitable for the task.

Then there was a knock on his door:

"Come in…" he said tiredly.

"Gaara," started Kankuro when he opened the door. "Temari had been stabilized for the moment. But…" his eyes were strangely dull.

"But…?"

"She is in a coma. And it is unknown when or if-" he swallowed "-she will wake up."

Gaara's eyes lightened up, barely paying attention to the essence of the information he was just given. He was well aware of what was going on with Temari. He was the Kazekage after all and he got regular and immediate reports of whatever was happening. His mind was consumed by Tsunade's note and the answer presented itself on a plate. That's right! Who would be more suitable for the task than the Kazekage's brother himself? Gaara thought and leaned ahead slightly.

"Kankuro, we must talk…"

The elder brother stood with his head bowed, listening with a frown, squishing his black hat in hands more and more. This sounded (really) unreal and a bit crazy even. But looking at it from another point of view, it sounded logical and wise…

"And the solution is to marry me to… someone from Konoha?"

"I can't marry Temari, right?" Gaara said sarcastically and the brown-haired man took a sharp breath. His first thought was 'since when Gaara can use sarcasm', but he decided to leave that one for another time. He went back to the main issue: He is right, he thought. My little sister is in critical condition and Tsunade is maybe the only one capable of saving her. And here I am, whining like a little kid… A marriage between Suna and Konoha, would be the perfect excuse for the Hokage coming here. Especially if it is about the Kazekage's brother.

"All right," he sighed.

"It will last about a year. It is not that much."

Kankuro nodded thoughtfully. If that would help his sister, he would keep it for 10 years even.

"Tsunade-sama wrote that if we think it is a suitable solution, she would find someone to take care of the task immediately. But you must leave tomorrow morning, so we could rush it as much as possible." Gaara explained patiently.

"Why should I go there? Won't she be the one to come here?" Kankuro frowned.

"To avoid problems and suspicions you must be seen together. You need to deceive everybody, do you get that? It is common to have arranged marriages, but for what we have planned it just won't work this way."

"Why not?" he frowned yet again.

"Because no matter how careful we keep the villages, there will always be spies. And if the other union gets the information this is all a lie, they may go to war the second the Hokage leaves the village borders. I can't and don't have the right to apply such a risk to Konoha. And Tsunade wouldn't agree to something like that. No Kage would…"

Kankuro bit his lips. He understood quite too well. And no matter what he had asked, he knew the answer in advance, he just didn't want to trust his own judgment. He preferred to hear it from the Kazekage's mouth.

"You are Temari's brother and you do that for her, but the girl from Konoha… it will be just a mission to her. You understand that, right?" Gaara sighed and waited for a nod from his brother. "There will be a wedding certificate signing ceremony in Konoha. Then you all will come here and we will hold a public service. Your blood lineage as Kazekage's son requires some publicity" Kankuro really hated his descent sometimes, hated that it was raising public interest in his doings. It was often so limiting - the expectations, the way people would look up to him…

The elder brother clenched his hands in fists, but Gaara suddenly stood up and crushed his fist onto the desk:

"Damn it, Kankuro! I love our sister no less than you! I would do that myself, but until the Council gives me permission, Temari would probably be dead." The pale green eyes tried to soak in the dark ones unsuccessfully. "But you can do that."

The two men continued to stare within each other's eyes. At the end Kankuro nodded and left without saying a word.