Desert Fox Redux

A story by Zaion Indulias

Chapter 1: Konoha, Again!

Nine months later Temari stood before the gates of Konoha, flanked by her two brothers and their Jounin instructor Baki. She was wearing a bodysuit made out of layers of various shades of purple cloth, with a deep red sash wrapped around her waste. She had her large battle fan strapped to her back and wore her Suna hitai-ate around her neck.

She had waited for this day anxiously for the past nine months. She had pressed Baki for additional training to toughen her self up, and sought excuses to explain away her sudden increase in ability; that and a whole lot of acting weaker than she really was to conceal the true extent of her skills. She certainly didn't want anyone to know that a genin knew some of the higher level techniques carefully guarded by the Jounin of Sunagakure.

Temari and her siblings remained quiet as Baki stepped forward and approached one of the Chunin guarding the gates. The young man eyed him warily before taking the IDs Baki readily handed over. After confirming their authenticity the young man handed them back and waved the Suna shinobi through the gates. The quartet immediately made their way towards a nearby hotel that Baki had arranged lodgings at.

As they walked Temari continuously cast her gaze around her. She wasn't worried about any attacks from Konoha shinobi, as they hadn't had any trouble with them the first time around until Konohamaru had run into her brother. No, she was just hoping that finally, after nine months of painful heartbreaking loneliness, she would catch a glimpse of her husband. She had no such luck though.

As they were walking Gaara couldn't help but notice the way his sister's eyes were jumping around. The past nine months had been very confusing for the Jinchuriki. One day out of the blue his sister had approached him with a small sad smile on her face. Braving the possible wrath of his sand, she had approached him and wrapped him in a hug, muttering over and over how sorry she was for what had been done to him by their father. He knew that the blond girl still had a few small scars from where his sand had struck her, attempting to force her to move away. But his sister had withstood the pain, merely continuing to cry and repeat her apologies over and over.

Gaara was still not one hundred percent sure what was going on, but he knew that his sister had changed, and he knew that she had somehow changed him. The voice of Mother had been growing weaker over the past nine months, and Gaara had discovered that he could even sleep safely without Mother taking over. Not that he slept much, mind you, just that he could.

Kankuro on the other hand had failed to notice anything about his sister except that she had grown scarier the past nine months. She must have, to be able to approach Gaara without feeling afraid for her life like everyone else did. He still got the heebie jeebies anytime he had to be near his brother. At least his brother hadn't been spouting off about blood for the past several months. Thank Kami for small mercies.

When they finally reached the hotel Kankuro and Temari left their packs and headed out to go exploring, while Baki and Gaara settled down to a quiet game of Go. Temari had remembered her brother's penchant for the game from her previous life, and how his biggest regret was that he had never gotten a chance to play Baki before his untimely death fighting against Akatsuki. So she had conveniently introduced Gaara to the game several years early, and sure enough the boy had taken to it like a fish to water.

As she and Kankuro walked lazily through the village she breathed in deeply, enjoying the familiar scents in the air. After she and Naruto had been married they had settled in Konoha, more because most of his friends and family were there than because of an actual desire of Naruto's to remain. After he had been passed up by the council for the position of Hokage for a known traitor he hadn't really felt very kindly towards the village, but he had behaved politely to ensure he didn't create a rift between Suna and Konoha over the decision. Akatsuki was still a threat at the time, and he hadn't wanted to risk dealing with them without backup.

"Get back here you brat!!"

Temari brought her mind back to the present as she heard a voice. Familiar, as she had stood in almost this exact same spot all those years ago, the first time she had met her husband. Of course, she had been too dense at the time to see him for what a great ninja he was. That and he had been wearing that atrocious orange jacket, and…

Right on time three children with goggles pushed up on their foreheads and a blond shinobi a few years younger than her self came racing around the corner, running for their lives from an enraged pink-haired girl. Like clockwork, the darker haired of the two young boys plowed straight into Kankuro, causing the others to slide to a screeching halt.

"That hurt…" Kankuro muttered.

The black-clad boy ached to grab the brat by his collar and teach him a lesson, but his scary-as-hell sister had given him strict, and eerily specific, orders before they left that if a stupid brat should collide with him during their time in Konoha, that he was NOT under any circumstances to lay a hand on him. It scared the puppet-master how often his sister had been able to predict things as of late. It was almost as if she knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Shaking off the weird feeling Kankuro stepped back, looking up and glaring at the two Konoha shinobi. The blond looked utterly retarded in that bright-orange outfit of his. It was almost like he wanted to get killed. And the girl wasn't too impressive either. She was too thin, and her arms and legs showed very little muscle definition.

Temari on the other hand looked like a deer caught in headlights. As much as she had waited for this day, she was still nervous as hell. She knew logically that Naruto would still be the young brash fool that would one day win her heart, but actually seeing him so young again struck a chord. It took all her will power not to burst out crying and rush to embrace him in a hug. She certainly wanted to do it, but she knew that traumatizing her once and future lover would only damage any chance she had of getting her husband back. After all, the seals required to transfer the memories she had brought back from the future that had been locked inside her head by the bastard fox back to their original owner would require willingness on both people's parts.

Shaking her self out of her stupor Temari crouched before the brunette kid and reached out a hand to help him up.

"You alright kid?" She asked politely.

The kid looked surprised before taking her hand and letting her help him to his feet.

"You should really watch where you're going. It's not polite to run into people, and some people don't have the restraint my brother has." She continued with a smile on her face. She looked up and smiled at the others to show that she was no threat, her gaze lingering on Naruto several seconds longer than the others.

Stepping back now that Konohamaru was on his feet she made a show of looking around before looking up into the tree her left.

"I can feel your presence up there you know. You aren't as good at hiding it as you'd like to think." Temari said tauntingly.

The grin on her face concealed her inner hatred of the dark-haired boy who dropped out of the tree to a cry of 'Sasuke-kun!!!!' from the pink-haired girl. Uchiha Sasuke. The man who had caused her husband no end of grief. Who had thrust his hand through his chest. Who had taken from him almost everything he had ever wanted. And who had ultimately betrayed Naruto to Akatsuki.

Temari had relished the day that Akatsuki had turned around and betrayed Konoha, razing it to the ground with the power of the nine Bijuu. She didn't know if that future still existed in another reality or not, and she didn't much care. The Kyuubi had used the last of its independence to make a pact with her, sending their memories into the past in exchange for a bit of freedom once she had restored Naruto to him self. That and to kill certain people.

She couldn't say that she wouldn't gladly carry out the latter part of the deal when the time came.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" Sasuke asked as he walked forward and stood halfway between his teammates and the Sabaku siblings.

"Hmmph. Another guy who pisses me off…" Kankuro muttered, only to be hit in the shoulder by a punch from Temari.

"Shut it, brother." She hissed before returning her attention to those before her with a smile on her face.

"The Chunin Selection Exams are being held in Konoha this time, and my brothers and I are here to compete for promotion to the rank of Chunin. You can go ask any ANBU, I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing, right before they smack you in the head for wasting their valuable time." Temari spoke with sweetness, all the while getting a covert jab in at Sasuke.

When Naruto asked what the Chunin Selection Exam was it physically hurt Temari to see the boy who would one day be hers again looking so stupid. She knew he hadn't been the sharpest tool in the shed when he was younger, but it was one thing to hear about it and quite another to see it. Sighing, she began to explain about the exams politely, in a way that she knew he would be able to grasp. The entire time she kept casting covert glances at him, taking in everything about him.

He was dirty from training, and there were patches on his jacket and pants that had obviously been used to repair holes left by kunai or other weapons. His blue eyes were brilliant, and shined out with genuine excitement from under his head of bright yellow hair as what she was saying began to sink in. When he turned to excitedly ask Konohamaru if he should enter the exam she smiled and giggled. He hadn't lost one iota of that breathless energy as an adult, merely turned it to more…productive endeavors.

Temari blushed fiercely as she remembered one particular evening shortly after they had started dating. They had had to replace Naruto's kitchen table the next day.

"Hey, what's your name?" Sasuke asked.

Temari blinked. "Huh? You mean me?" She asked in confusion. The first time around he had asked that question, but it had been of Gaara.

At Sasuke's nod of confirmation Temari straightened up and smirked.

"I'm Sabaku no Temari, eldest daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage." She said before turning her gaze to Naruto. Sasuke didn't fail to notice that she didn't ask for his name in return.

"Well I'm the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, and one day I'll replace him as the Hokage of this village!" Konohamaru shouted energetically, as if challenging her to deny it.

Instead Temari smiled and giggled lightly, covering her mouth with her hand. "I don't doubt it, kid." She said with a smile. "I don't doubt it at all."

She favored the rest of the Konoha genin and the other two kids with a small smile.

"Well, we should be going. We were just exploring the village looking for the best places to eat anyways. We should probably head back to our hotel and meet back up with our brother and our instructor. Maybe we'll see you in the exams." Temari smiled and waved as Kankuro turned to walk away and she turned to follow. After a few steps she stopped and turned back to face them, having made her decision.

"Ne, cutie. Would you like to come along and show me where the best places to eat in Konoha are? It'd go a long way towards making my stay here worthwhile if I could spend some time with you." She said lightly, smiling.

"Back off you bitch!!! Sasuke-kun is mine!!"

A large sweat-drop appeared on Temari's forehead as Sakura stepped between her and a smirking Sasuke, yelling her brains out. Sasuke was just about to tell Sakura to mind her own business and step forward to accept Temari's invitation when the Suna-kunoichi mock-retched and pretended like she was going to throw up.

"BLEH!! Are you kidding me? I'd never go out with that emo duck-butt even if you paid me. I was talking to the blond cutie, what's your name, Naruto?" She replied, chuckling internally.

Heh, strike one, Sasuke. Remember, three strikes your out.

Naruto blinked and pointed at him self in confusion.

"Huh? You want to have lunch with me?"

Behind her Temari could practically hear her brother thinking the same confused thoughts about Naruto as Naruto was about him self.

Temari nodded and smiled. "Yup. You're cute, and there's something about you I just can't place, but it's intriguing. I'd like to get to know you better."

Temari saw Naruto look between her and Sakura for several moments before taking a deep breath and stepping forward, obviously having made his choice.

"Okay! I'll show you Ichiraku's! They have the best ramen in the whole world!!" Naruto said excitedly as he ran forward towards an already turning Temari.

"Oh, I know a place in Suna that could probably give them a run for their money." Temari said with a smile on her face as Naruto matched pace with her as they walked away. Naruto grinned back up at the older kunoichi.

"Hehe, I doubt it. Old Man Ichiraku makes the best ramen in the whole world, I'm telling you."

Temari smiled and decided to humor the poor boy. After all, she did happen to agree with him on that point. Ichiraku's was the definitely the best.


Lunch that day was the first time Temari had truly smiled in almost a year. Kankuro had left after a single bowl, stating flatly that Naruto was annoying and he was going to go clean his puppet. Temari had merely shrugged and promptly gone back to her discussion with Naruto about the finer points of ramen and being a shinobi. Kankuro had walked away very glad his sister hadn't beat him again for his rudeness.

After so long waiting to finally see him again, Temari found that it was surprisingly difficult not to just pull him into a hug and kiss him, even if he was a bit younger than she really remembered him. Despite the young age, he was her lover, or at least had been, and if all went according to plan he would be again. Temari knew that he was slated to meet and be trained by one of the greatest seal masters in the world after the first two parts of the Chunin exams were complete, and she knew that her chance to once again win Naruto's love and trust would come shortly thereafter.

Naruto was on his tenth bowl of ramen already, Temari on her third having been eating at a more sedate pace. She wanted no excuse to develop for them to have to end their lunch 'date', so she was eating slowly to ensure that she didn't finish before Naruto. She giggled as he recounted to her how his Academy instructor had treated him to ramen after he was promoted to genin. She also noted sadly how Naruto left out certain details, like Mizuki's conversation about the Kyuubi. She still remembered the righteous fury that had boiled up inside her when he had finally told her the details of how he had passed, and if Mizuki hadn't already been locked away and powerless she would have dealt with the bastard her self.

As it was, she had insisted that she be allowed to check that the bastard was still secure, and had mentally scarred about half of Konoha's military police in the process of doing so. Ibiki had very nearly commissioned her into the Interrogation Corps after she had intimidated an entire squad of trained guards into telling her where Mizuki was being kept, but events that followed shortly thereafter made that an impossibility.

Temari had to fight to keep a smile on her face as she was once again reminded of what that bastard had done to her husband, and she vowed once again that when the time she would stand beside her husband against him once again, and this time the bastard wouldn't walk away from the fight.

"Ne, Temari-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly, knocking Temari out of her thoughts.

Temari noticed that Naruto's eyes were downcast and he looked sad.

"Yes?" Temari replied, wondering what was wrong.

"Why did you ask me to grab lunch with you?" Naruto asked.

Temari sighed and then smiled faintly.

Guess I can tell him the truth, or at least as much as is safe to at the moment.

"The truth is Naruto, that I knew someone like you, a long time ago. He was a really important person to me, and I was devastated by his death. He was betrayed by someone he had considered his brother, and I was in pain for a long time after it happened. Meeting you today, it just reminded me of all that I had lost." Temari sighed. "I guess, I figure that since you are the same as the one I once loved, that maybe it would be worth it to open my heart again."

Naruto blinked in confusion before what she had said settled in.

"Wait, what?!! Are you saying you asked me to grab lunch with you because you like me?!!"

Temari chuckled and smiled at Naruto's reaction. He was always so cute when he was shocked by something.

"That's precisely what I'm saying cutie." Temari said with a smile. Making her decision, she leant in and kissed the stunned Naruto on the cheek before paying for her food and sliding off of her stool. "I'm really sorry but I do need to meet up with my brothers soon. Hopefully we can do this again soon, my foxy ninja."

Temari winked at Naruto before smiling and walking away, leaving Naruto bright red and still as night. The poor boy had been utterly blindsided, and Old Man Ichiraku and Ayame both chuckled. Whoever that girl was, she was certainly good for Naruto. Much better than that violent Sakura girl.

As soon as she rounded a corner and was sure that she was out of sight Temari grinned like a maniac and let out a small squeal of happiness before running off towards her hotel. Life was finally looking up for the blond-haired wind user.


The next week was relatively uneventful for Temari. She didn't see Naruto again, but she was sure that he was just so excited about being allowed to take the Chunin exams that it had made him forget their 'date'. She spent the time polishing her fan, training her body, and getting her self mentally prepared for the exam. Thankfully the changes in her younger brother hadn't weakened him, merely curbed his bloodlust. She didn't expect to have any trouble during the exams, at least not until the preliminaries. The vagaries of fate could throw a wrench into things if the match-ups occurred differently than before, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to that.

July first finally rolled around, and the three Sabaku siblings made their way to the exam location in silence. Gaara wore his typical un-amused expression, while Kankuro was smirking. The older of the two boys was confident in both his own abilities and those of his younger brother. Temari on the other hand was fighting to keep a straight face. She wanted to smile as she was going to get to see Naruto again soon, and only the constant twitching of the corners of her mouth betrayed her feelings.

It took all her self-control during the first exam not to blow things when she saw the shinobi from the Hidden Sound trying to pick a fight with the Konoha shinobi. Hell, it was taking all her self control to even allow events to progress closely to the original time line during the exams. Part of her wanted to save her husband from the pain she knew was coming. The other part realized that she couldn't risk altering events too far or she could risk never getting him back.

Ultimately the cautious part won out over the emotional part.

Temari was pleased to see that Naruto once again stood up and called bull-shit on Ibiki's rules for the tenth question.

That's my Naruto! Tell them how it is!!

By the time the first exam was over Temari couldn't hide the smile on her face. As the genin were escorted from the room in Mitarashi Anko's wake Temari maneuvered her self so that she would bump into Naruto. Smiling down at the younger blond when she realized who had bumped into him she leant down and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"That was amazing how you stood up to Ibiki. He had most of the other genin shitting their pants before you spoke up. I'm proud of you, my foxy ninja."

Temari winked before hurrying off to catch up with her team. She was in such a rush that she didn't notice Uchiha Sasuke's eyes following her, admiring her figure as she ran from the room.

If she had the teme would likely never have survived to see another sunrise, consequences be damned.


When they arrived at the field outside of the Forest of Death Temari was pleased to note that Naruto kept sneaking surreptitious glances at her. Even if he did look confused and keep blushing every time she caught him looking. Especially if he did look confused and keep blushing every time she caught him looking.

It took all of her self control not to ask Gaara to crush the Kusa-nin Orochimaru was disguised as when he returned Anko's kunai to her. Temari knew that the bastard would be making her Naruto's life miserable within a matter of hours, but she also knew she couldn't interfere. Events had to play out as close to original as possible until she got her chance to return Naruto's memories to him.

That didn't mean she had to like it.

As the teams spread out to head to their individual starting gates Temari said a small prayer to Kami to keep her Naruto-kun safe from harm.


Five days later Temari stood with the other teams who had completed the second exam in a large room, standing before the Hokage, the proctors of the first and second exams. She was nervous, as there were only a few minutes remaining in the exam, and Naruto's team had yet to arrive. Same with that traitor Kabuto's team.

Temari sighed and took a deep breath.

Calm down Temari, they arrived at the last minute the first time around as well. There's no reason to think that anything different as happened. You're just being paranoid.

Sure enough, with one minute left until the deadline, Naruto's team and Kabuto's team were ushered through separate doors into the chamber to line up with the rest of the genin. As the sickly Konoha Jounin who was going to be in charge of the preliminaries began to explain the situation and the rules of the next part of the exam Temari turned her gaze to Naruto. His clothes looked a little beat up, but he had a proud smile on his face. When he caught her looking at him she blushed and looked forward, only to turn her head and look at him again once she was sure he had returned his attention to the sickly man before them.

She didn't notice the small smile and blush that had been on his face before she had returned her gaze to looking at him.


The fights went almost exactly as she remembered them. The teme beat one of Orochimaru's spies by ripping off one of Rock Lee's techniques. The pink-haired bitch her Naruto had been in love with when he was younger fought to a draw with the blond that she remembered Shikamaru had ultimately married. Temari her self had defeated TenTen with ease. She had admittedly been a bit nicer in disabling the girl though.

The first major change came when Naruto fought against Kiba. Naruto seemed to be determined to prove something, even more so than usual. A couple of minutes into the fight, when Kiba had gotten a lucky hit in and had Naruto surrounded, she caught the blond boy looking up at her and then steeling his gaze back at Kiba.

Temari's eyes widened in surprise as she finally understood why Naruto was striving so hard. It was because of her! The slight changes she had caused by asking the blond boy out, by admitting to liking him and downright flirting with him, had reached through that thick head of his. Somewhere inside Naruto had realized that he had a strong kunoichi here who for some reason unknown to him liked him and he was determined to prove him self worthy. She would have laughed at the utter boyishness of showing off to win a mate if she wasn't completely ecstatic that she had begun to win her love once again.

Grinning, she leant forward over the edge of the railing.

"Go Naruto! You can beat him! Come on! Show him what you're made of!!"

Temari was pleased to note the looks of confusion on the faces of many of the Konoha shinobi, both genin and otherwise. She smirked. Let them wonder what was going on, she didn't care. She was on her way to having the love of her life back, and she wouldn't let anything get in her way.


The second major diversion was during Lee's fight with Gaara. Temari had spoken with her brother before the matches and asked him to restrain him self during the fight, and while he was reluctant he had agreed to do so. This did not make the fight any less epic, but Lee was a hell of a lot less injured by the time his sensei stepped in to end the match. Temari silently thanked Kami that her brother had listened to her request, as Lee had been one of Naruto's closest and most loyal friends in the future, and if she could save him from the pain of being told he could never be a ninja again then she would. Besides, the chances he would have survived the surgery a second time were very slim, and she didn't want to risk that chance.

As she watched Lee being carried out on a stretcher she smiled faintly before turning to her brother as he reappeared on the balcony next to her. Embracing him in a hug she whispered quietly in his ear.

"Thank you."

Temari would curse many years later when she finally found out that she had missed the first true smile her little brother had ever shed.


Temari and the other victors were being escorted from the tower and back to Konoha when she felt someone tug on her arm. Stopping she turned to find Naruto there with a nervous smile on his face. Smiling Temari stopped walking.

"Ne, Temari. Thanks for the encouragement back there." Naruto said, his smile solidifying as he realized Temari was smiling back, and not one of those fake smiles that never really reaches a person's eyes either. A real, honest-to-god smile.

"Any time Naruto. I knew you had it in you. You are my foxy ninja after all." Temari leant down and kissed him on the cheek again before turning to follow the rest of the genin.

Naruto remained still, his hand rising to rub his cheek again before he smiled and chased after Temari. His question could wait until he had a chance to ask her in private. Anyone who loved ramen and smiled with pure honesty couldn't be bad.


It was getting late by the time they reached Konoha and dispersed to return to their respective lodgings. Temari was planning to make a beeline for the famous hot springs run by the Hyuuga Clan that were situated in the village, but was stopped by a certain emo duck-butt teme before she could leave the group.

"You are a most extremely strong and attractive kunoichi, Sabaku no Temari, not to mention the daughter of a Kage," He began without preamble. "and I am Uchiha Sasuke, sole heir to the powerful Uchiha clan. You would be doing me a great honor if you would join me for dinner tonight. I can treat you to the most expensive restaurants in Konoha."

Temari snorted at his attempt to interest her in dinner with his status and rank within the village.

"And why should I care about any of that, Uchiha?" She asked with mild disdain in her voice. Her refusal to use his first name did not go unnoticed. As Sasuke paused for a moment to collect him self, having not even entertained the possibility that she would not immediately say yes, Temari caught sight of Naruto over his shoulder. The blond boy had stopped dead in his tracks and she saw emotions flitting across his face that she had hoped never to see again.

Worry, fear, betrayal, anger, depression.

Before she could react Naruto ran past and disappeared down a side street as she watched in shock and dismay. Snarling, Temari spun on Sasuke.

"You little shit! Thanks to you the man I love just ran off because he's figuring that now that I have some punk-ass clan member like you asking me out that I'm just going to turn around and leave him! Well FUCK THAT! I love Naruto and I'm not letting anyone, least of all a little shit-eating snake-loving turd like you ruin this for me! Not again!" She practically screamed at the blindsided Uchiha heir.

Temari was completely oblivious to the mixture of confused and thoughtful looks of the shinobi around them as she turned on her heel and sped off to search for Naruto.

Please let him be fleeing to his safe spot! Please Kami, let him be where I can reach him!

As she disappeared into Konoha's streets heading for the Hokage monument Temari didn't notice the tears that were streaming down her face.


Temari found Naruto half an hour later sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, crying as he looked out over Konoha. Wiping a few tears from her own eyes Temari quietly walked over and sat down next to Naruto before the blond boy even registered her presence. Naruto turned his head and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Temari sitting next to him, staring off at the setting sun with a sad smile on her face. Through his surprise Naruto couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked with the fading sunlight illuminating her face.

After several long moments Temari blinked and turned to face Naruto, favoring him with a small smile. Her sad smile reached up to her teal eyes, which were still glistening with the remains of the tears she had been shedding as she searched for Naruto. She thankfully had no make up smears, as she had no make up to smear.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked, still surprised that she had followed him.

Temari giggled and wiped another tear from her eye. "You know, sometimes you really are an idiot."

Temari smiled again and before Naruto could react leant in, resting her forehead against his.

"I like you Naruto, more than you can possibly understand right now. Please, don't ever run off like that again." Temari chuckled. "I was about to turn that bastard down. Hell, he was so arrogant it was like he expected me to say yes immediately just because of who his family was. Can you believe that?"

Naruto chuckled and smiled. Both blonds grew silent and as they gazed into each other's eyes, Temari losing her self in Naruto's bright blue orbs and Naruto losing him self in Temari's teal eyes. Ever slow slowly their faces began to drift together, Temari's lips pursing in anticipation of the kiss. They were just about to connect when there was a swirl of leaves and Hatake Kakashi appeared on top of the monument a few feet away. Naruto pulled back immediately, his face burning red in embarrassment. Temari practically growled and she turned to glare at Kakashi.

"Why is it that you Sharingan bastards always seem to ruin the best moments of my life?" She bit out, drawing a surprised look from Naruto and a raised eyebrow from Kakashi.

"I'm not quite sure I know what you mean miss. But as Naruto's instructor, I feel that I must look out for his best interests. I must ask that you cease your interest in him and return to your teammates at once." The silver-haired Jounin did his best to sound polite and convincing.

Temari growled again as she stood up and approached the Jounin. "Now see here you pompous ass. I don't give a damn what you think. You've never done a damn thing to look out for Naruto's best interests before this, and I sincerely doubt you'll ever do so again. Let me guess, that bastard Uchiha complained about my behavior and my 'untoward' interest in Naruto, right?"

Seeing genuine confusion in his eyes she continued. "No, that isn't it, is it? No, I bet it was that thrice-damned council who ordered you to interfere. What, are they afraid that some foreign power might influence their damn 'demon' into betraying the village?"

Temari ignored the immense widening of Kakashi's eye and the sudden gasp that came from Naruto behind her.

Please love, bear with me. I promise I will explain everything as soon as I can.

"That's a laugh. Naruto has never been anything but loyal to this thrice-damned village, even after all the crap they've heaped on him year after year. And yet they still treat him like trash. And no, no one broke your village's damn law. I've known about Naruto's secret for almost a year. I know a lot about your village, knowledge that NO ONE else in Suna has or will ever receive. And do you know why?"

Temari stepped backwards and took a deep breath before continuing more softly. "Because I love Naruto, and there is no way in hell I am giving him up, to anyone."

Temari spun and grabbed Naruto, pulling him into a kiss before Kakashi or Naruto could react. She could feel Naruto remain still in surprise for several long seconds before what was happening sank in. Slowly she felt him clumsily return the kiss, causing her to smile into it.

The kiss lasted thirty seconds, and both blonds were too wrapped up in it to see the massive sweat drop on Kakashi's forehead. When they finally broke the kiss Temari remained with her forehead leaning against Naruto's for a few moments before smiling sadly and turning to look at Kakashi.

"Listen, for reasons I can't explain here I know a little about events that are soon to transpire. I was going to find a way to arrange a discreet meeting with the Hokage anyways, so you being here will just make it easier. I'm assuming you can get us in to see him without anyone, my teammates included, knowing about it?" Temari asked, her tone serious. Kakashi noted that she still had one arm around Naruto and that her other hand was held tightly in Naruto's.

Kakashi frowned and nodded. "Yes, I can. But once we are there you are going to explain how you know about Naruto."

Temari's eyes twinkled. "Gladly."


Within the back of Naruto's mind the Kyuubi was becoming restless. He could feel the power that had been placed within this female that was interested in his host. He could hear the siren's call of a demonic pact, and as much as he feared learning what could possibly have convinced him to sign such a pact with this female, he also wanted to know what could possibly threaten him to such a degree that he would make such a pact. It wouldn't be the first time a demon had made a pact involving the transference of another's memories through time after all, just the first time that one had been forced to do so to a point before he had made the decision to do so. All the previous occasions had involved long term threats to either the theirs or the planet's survival, and they had always chosen the host of the pact well before the memories would eventually arrive.

Demons after all, keep their word. It's the one thing you can always count on with them.


AN: Here it is folks, the first chapter. Please, tell me what you think. Love it? Hate it? I'd like to know. Hopefully it's clear to people that this story will be tying very much with canon. I had at least one question in the reviews of the prologue I put up a few days ago asking if I will be revealing information on the original timeline. The short answer is yes. The long answer is that there will be references to events in the original timeline as well as the occasional flashback. I am also considering writing a story for the original timeline, running from the beginning of Temari and Naruto's original courtship until the pact with the Kyuubi, once I finish Desert Fox Redux.

As with all my fics, please Read and Review. It is the best way for me to really know what you all think, and to know what kind of readership my stories are really getting. It's a useful feedback mechanism for me to develop my writing ability better to create even better stories.

Until next time, Jaa ne!

-ZI

Review Responses

Thetrueking – I'll try my best, but the simple fact is that knowledge wise they will both have over a decade of additional experience. On top of that, Naruto will remember the Kage Bunshin training method. Their physical strength, chakra control, and chakra capacities though will not improve insanely drastically though. Its one thing to have the knowledge, quite another to have the endless hours of training to be able to implement it.

Sweet Heavens – Yeah, I know. It was an idea that coalesced and the first small pair of scenes was just so perfect on its own that I decided to toss it up stand alone as I worked on the first actual chapter. I guess I probably could have called it a Teaser instead of a Prologue, ne?

X-219 – Ask and ye shall receive. (well, not really. But in this case it was the first of the under-construction chapters to be complete)

Innerstruggle88 – Yes, as you can see from this chapter. The Prologue takes place on August 23rd, a month and a half roughly before Naruto steals the forbidden scroll. For those who don't know what that means, that is Temari's fifteenth birthday.

Naruhina-otaku – Yes, I'm inclined to agree. The couple I have read (one unfortunately has been defunct for several years *sadface* ) always make me smile. I've reread two of my favorites, "Never Cut Twice" by Shadowmaster62 and "An Uzumaki Amongst the Dunes" by pudgypudge (the latter of which is still updating, the former of which is long since completed) several times. "Never Cut Twice" is always a good read when I need that perfect mix of humor and seriousness.

Warper – Perhaps, but it was what felt right as I was writing. Though now that I look back on it I maybe should have called it a Teaser instead, but oh well. Such is life. And its not just holiday prep, but major stress trying to find a job, that has been impacting my writing. The reason this story had such a tiny start is because those first two small scenes just felt right on their own, leaving the next set of events to begin the first real chapter. When I write chapters, as I've explained before in my other fics, I write them until they feel right, not until some preordained length. It may have seemed small to all of you, but those two small scenes on their own just felt too right to me on their own.

I've yet to encounter a fic with Sakura in this situation, but I don't doubt that one exists. And I haven't encountered one with Temari either, and since I liked the idea of her coming back with the memories and seeking out her lover to make him hers again, I ran with it. The idea has developed much farther from that simple premise, and I will really enjoy writing this one.

Redux is a term meaning "Brought back" or "returned". It's the term that I use to refer to these sorts of "do-over" fics, and especially since I am planning to most likely write "Desert Fox" itself once "Redux" is completed, I felt it was a fitting name for the fic.

As I answered mostly above in the authors note, yes, there will be both mentions and flashbacks that show events and stages in their original relationship. The wedding will most likely not be shown, but that is because I want to save that for when I write the prequel. And no, major information on the events that led to this situation will become evident very rapidly. I won't say too much though, because I don't want to spoil what I have in store.

And yes, Naruto is going to get his memories, but it is part of the pact with the Kyuubi. There is also a complication involved in the actual transference, which will become apparent shortly. Let's just say, Temari needs the assistance of a certain Seal Master in order to effect the transfer.

Hmm…looks like your review ran out of space or sent before you completed it. Haha.

Jbalman – Thanks. "Blonds Have More Fun" is personally one of my top three favorite fics by EroSlacker (tying with the one with Naruto, the vampire, and the earthbender and with Team Sharingan), and is in my top ten favorite fics of all time. The only reason it doesn't rate top five is I have read some absolutely outstanding fics, and they hold onto their spots with a viciousness like you wouldn';t believe.

Chm01 – Thank you.

Bobboky - ^_^

Sh8ad8ow – Shrugs. Well, can't please everybody.

Ymere – Truth be told, I can see Naruto with a large number of the characters, but the situation needs to set it up properly. Once he is older, I definitely see him having better chances with the blonds, but only because they are strong enough, independent enough, and crazy enough in their own ways to put up with him.

Jamez-08 – Naruto and Temari end up together fairly quickly once they meet, but there is no way Temari is waiting longer than she ahs to. There will be no super-fast-grow-up-deus-ex-machina though. They will have to train their physical abilities one day at a time like everyone else. Just because Naruto KNOWS how to perform a series of advanced aerial attacks, doesn't mean his body will be remotely capable of it without months at least of training. Training to improve his chakra control and his use of jutsus and techniques though, well, he has the Kage bunshin method for that. But as I said, physical stats will still require the normal training. After all, Kage bunshin can't train his muscles to be stronger.

And yeah, he would have been stunning, but I doubt that he would have been able to force Neji to admit that Naruto was better. He would definitely have had an easier time of the match though.

Kensington – Why thank you. I much appreciate the praise, and I hope that I do not disappoint.

WINDxNINJA – Thank you.

BackYard – Well, hope you enjoy this, the first actual chapter.