~Chapter Four~

~Job Description~

All hell had broken loose in Suna. It had only being less than a day since the Kazekage discovered his son – not Kankuro, the other one – had disappeared. He had as many elite ninjas he could spare to hunt down Gaara, mostly to make sure Shukaku hadn't decided to rampage and destroy a part of his precious village. If, by some chance, the demon directed his container out of Suna, well, it wouldn't be the worst thing to have happened. In fact, he pinned his hopes on this. He wouldn't have to worry about the demon breaking free and terrorising the village. However, It was doing a pretty good job of that whilst being sealed…

The Kazekage got up from his desk and looked out the window at his village, his hands behind his back. Yes, he wouldn't mind if youngest son disappeared. Sure, he'd be down one kid but he already had a perfectly good son and daughter, one of which would hopefully make a good successor for him. The tradition in Suna was a son of the Kazekage would inherit the position, if something was to happen to him. Meaning, Kankuro would be the next leader of the village… maybe. He wasn't deemed suitable for the position in his opinion. He wasn't strong willed, level headed or the sharpest kunai in the pouch… His sister, however, was every one of those. Except, well, a female Kazekage was unheard of and not many elders (or any at all) would give in to letting a woman rule their country. He supposed the best option would be to train Kankuro vigorously so when the time comes, he'll be able to take up the position.

As for Gaara, if he turns up, he turns up. And if he doesn't, then good riddance. 'No point dwelling on a lost cause' he thought to himself, and diverted his thoughts to more important issues. 'I think I'll have ramen tonight…"

"Welcome to the Hokage tower," Hana beamed a smile, opening and waving her arms for dramatic effect. "For all your Hokage needs~!"

The tower was relatively normal and plain, nothing too extravagant. It was an orange-pinky circular building, a wooden yellow roof was visible on the top of the bottom two floors. The very top of the tower had a railing around it, where the Hokage and other ninjas could view Konoha. Four white triangular shapes were visible on the top aswell. A red circle with the kanji for 'fire' was positioned on the wall beneath the railing.

"I doubt we'll be having many of them…" Sasori commented and began walking towards the entrance.

Hana blinked. "Is he always like this?" she asked Deidara, pointing a thumb at the red head.

Deidara sighed. "Pretty much, yeah…" he replied, rolling his eyes and followed Sasori into the tower with Hana in tow.

The trio travelled through the winding hallways and climbed up flights of stairs, following the Inuzuka's directions. They eventually made it to the Hokage's office, positioned in the centre of the top floor. After confirmation from the secretary that he was, in fact, free to see them, Sasori rapped lightly on the door and they entered the office after receiving permission.

The room was big and airy, which was to be expected of the Hokage office. The third was seated behind his large desk, stacks of paperwork balanced precariously on top of it. He was clad in his Hokage robes and seemed to be quite surprised at who his visitors were. After recovering from his initial surprise, he smiled warmly at them, dropping his quill.

"Good morning Hana, Deidara, Sasori," he greeted them, nodding at each one in turn. "What can I do for you?"

Sasori stepped forward, electing himself spokesperson and bowed his head in respect. "Hokage-sama," he began. "Sorry to bother you on such a trivial matter but Deidara and I are both in need of a steady income and we were wondering if you could help us find some jobs? After all, we both have little brothers to feed…."

Sarutobi nodded in understanding. It would be hard for the two of them to provide for their little families, especially with no jobs. He had paid for Naruto's apartment and the tab he had in Ichiraku's, but now that the blonde had Deidara, he no longer qualified for the Hokage's money. Sarutobi was wary on giving the S-ranked criminal a job, especially among defenceless civilians but a ninja job was out of the question. He can't risk him running off and causing trouble all over the world. He'd lose his position for sure. Considering there was no one he'd trust with the responsibility (except maybe Kakashi Hatake but he had gotton quite irresponsible over the years), he won't be stepping down for a while yet.

His eyes fell onto Hana and he smiled, an idea forming in his head. "Don't worry Sasori, I don't mind helping my residents!" he said. "In fact, Deidara? Tsume Inuzuka, Hana's mother, is looking for an extra pair of hands to help at the kennel if you're interested?"

Deidara looked at the Hokage. Even though what he said was phrased as a question, he could tell that he didn't have a choice in the matter. "That seems reasonable, un," he replied, nodding his blonde head.

Hana grinned and patted the boy on the back. "I guess we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Deidara wasn't sure what to think of that. Hana seemed nice (and was pretty too) and he didn't really mind her, but working with dogs? He's an S-ranked ninja! He's stronger than most Jounins! He should be working at a more sophisticated establishment and shouldn't have to scoop dog poop for a living…

"Excellent!" the third stated, and began scribbling something onto a piece of paper. "Hana, you may escort Deidara to your mother and give her this," He handed the brunette the note. "It explains that Deidara will be working there from now on and what pay he should get, the hours he works and other business matters. Tell her it's a direct order from the Kazekage!"

"I will Hokage-sama!" Hana said as she took the note before bowing to him in respect. "Let's go Deidara-chan!" she said and tugged the blonde out of the office.

"Deidara-chan?"

"It's not my fault you look more like a '-chan' than you do a '-kun'! Just get a move on! You walk slower than Kiba!"

Sasori watched the two leave, uninterested. He turned to the Hokage when he addressed him. "I'm sorry but I'll have to search through some files to find something for you!" he said, standing up, using the desk for support.

"If it makes your search any easier, I was a chunin at my previous village, Amegakure," Sasori told him. Sasori had thought this decision through. Being a chunnin would be an acceptable rank for him. Most people his 'age' would be chunnins, plus it could cover his skill level too. Granted, he'll have to hold back a little but in the case he does appear to be too strong, then the worst that will happen is he'll get promoted. He picked Amegakure as Pein could provide him with a headband if needed and he'll cover for him if the Hokage questions him about it. His cover shouldn't be blown because of this. Plus, this way, he could leave the village and meet up with other members if necessary.

"Amegakure?" the third repeated, looking at him suspiciously. "But, doesn't you name mean 'Sasori of the desert waterfall'? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure the rain village doesn't have any deserts…"

"No, you're correct," Sasori agreed, nodding once. "Gaara and I are originally from Suna but we moved to Ame after our parents had died in a sandstorm to live with our Aunt Konan. As you know, that country is very war torn so our Aunt sent us here, to live more peacefully and safely."

"I'm sorry you had to experience such a tough background," the third stated, frowning. "I can give you a few D-rank and C-rank missions so you can prove your new loyalty to Konoha but I can't guarantee you'll be allowed to keep the position. I'll also need to see your headband as confirmation. I have an important meeting so bring it to me first thing tomorrow morning and we'll make the necessary preparations."

Sasori smiled at him humbly. "Thank you Hokage-sama!" he said, bowing lowly to show him his gratitude. "Gaara and I greatly appreciate this!"

Sarutobi smiled. "My pleasure!"

"Akamaru! Heel boy! HEEL!"

"GET BACK HERE YOU FLITHY MUTT!"

"Akamaru is NOT a filthy mutt!"

"Yes he is! He stole my ramen! Believe it!"

Gaara sweat dropped as he watched Naruto and Kiba argue with each for the third time that day… and it was only lunch. He patted Akamaru's head, who now sat down beside him munching on the lunch he got unwillingly from Naruto. The blonde and the brunette weren't getting on the best. Gaara concluded it seemed to be a sort of power struggle, as that morning they both fought over who got to be the 'boss' of their newly formed little group. He was happy to let the boys fight over that position, he didn't mind as long as he still had friends to call his own; ones that weren't stuffed with cotton and could talk or hug him back. Not that he had hugged either of Naruto or Kiba, he didn't know them well enough. But, maybe someday he will.

"Hey, you!" a voice called out from Gaara's left. He swivelled his head around to spot a raven-haired boy with an unusual hair style. It spiked up at the back but Gaara couldn't help but notice that it looked remarkably like a duck's tail feathers. He wore a high-collared black t-shirt and white shorts. "What are you doing hanging around with Naruto and Kiba?" he asked him, stuffing his pale hands into his pocket. "They're both idiots as you probably noticed. Plus the blonde dobe is apparently a monster or something," he shrugged.

Flashbacks of when Gaara was called a monster back in Suna flashed through his mind. The lonely, confused, hating feeling bubbled up inside him again and he glared harshly at the boy. "Naruto isn't a monster!" he stated, furious that this boy could make such an accusation about the nice, smiley blonde.

A dark chuckle erupted in the back of his mind. 'Nah, just a little demon!' Shukaku said, adding his unwanted input as per usual.

"I know that!" the boy said, rolling his eyes. "Nii-san told me he wasn't and I believe him. I just think you should be friends with someone less annoying, loud and ramen obsessed." The boy sat down on the ground a foot away from Gaara, his onyx eyes continuing to watch him.

Gaara blinked. "Are you implying that you want me to be your friend?" The red head had never even had one friend before and now he had people fighting over him? This was a situation he never even dreamed would happen, yet, in a way it was. Truth be told, he didn't literally have people fighting over him but the way the words were phrased could lead the child to believe so.

The boy shrugged. "You seem interesting. Like, the same type of interesting as Naruto, except more quiet and less annoying." He shrugged, nonchalant. Gaara wasn't sure what was meant by the 'same type of interesting', unlike Shukaku who seemed to find this statement hilarious, but it had to be a compliment, right? He did say he was interesting…

"Sasuke-teme! Stop harassing Gaara!" Naruto scowled the now identified boy. "You'll give him cooties!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Baka. You can only get cooties from girls. Everybody knows that!" he said matter-of-factly, crossing his pale arms.

Gaara blinked. "Cooties?" he asked, curiously.

"Yeah!" Kiba exclaimed, joining the conversation. "They're these weird bugs that live on girls and if she touches you, then you get cooties too. Then they eat all your skin until you're a walking skeleton!" the brunette explained, wiggling his fingers to spook the red head.

"You're wrong! Believe it!" Naruto shouted and pointed at him. "Cooties don't eat your skin until AFTER they lay eggs in your brain!"

Kiba facepalmed. "Ah! I can't believe I forgot!"

"Believe it!"

"Dobe."

"TEME!"

Gaara watched them, curiosity in his blue eyes. Did all boys his age argue with each other this much? He didn't recall seeing children act like this back in Suna… Maybe it was a Konoha thing. The locals were rather weird…. Like that guy in green spandex who was walking on his hands that he spotted when he was with Sasori…. You wouldn't catch anyone in Suna doing that….

Gaara sighed. He had found himself getting rather homesick lately. Well, he did prefer Konoha over Suna by far, but the hating village did have his charms. It was a lot warmer than the cool air here. Plus it was covered in sand, it being positioned in the desert and all. He had no way to protect himself here as there was no sand for his ultimate defence, causing him to rely greatly on his elder brother. He didn't miss the people and he didn't miss his 'family' for sure and he was certain they didn't miss him. But still, he had lived there since as long as he could remember and Konoha was so different…

"Gaara! Gaaraaa~! Hellooo? Anybody there?" Naruto's voice chorused as he waved and clicked his finger in front of the boys face. Gaara snapped out of the daze he hadn't realise he had fallen into and blinked up at him. Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru had disappeared, leaving the two on their own. "Are you okay?"

Gaara smiled at the boy's caring expression. He hadn't seen anyone look at him like that since Uncle Yashamaru… "I'm fine."

"Come on!" Naruto said, pulling him to his feet. "It's time to go back inside and Iruka-sensei will NOT be pleased if I'm late again…" he said, laughing nervously before dragging Gaara back into the academy.

Like every Inuzuka woman, Tsume was tough. So tough, she managed to gain herself the title 'Tsume 'Ball buster' Inuzuka'. She didn't take any nonsense, wasn't afraid to speak her mind or use her fists to get a point across. Her sharp Inuzuka fangs and harsh glare were enough to scare even the toughest shinobi. She didn't even have to so much as utter a word. So, when the Kyuubi kid's acclaimed 'brother' shows up on her doorstep with a letter from the Hokage demanding her to give him a job, she had to use ever last restraint she had from not tearing the boy to bits.

The Hokage had warned her if she treated the boy any different from what she would anyone else because of whom his sibling is, she'd be demoted to genin. GENIN. That was a whole two ranks below hers! That threat also stretched to the demon himself, if Naruto ever had to join his brother for any reason. He better not. It was hard enough for her not to lash out to his older brother who was nothing but cheeky to her ever since he had shown up, never mind the actual Jinchuriki himself.

Unfortunately for Tsume, her daughter had taken a liking to, Deidara was it?, because she saw him as a potential friend. She didn't know who Hana was looking at but it definitely wasn't that blonde brat. She had tried to convince her to stay away from the 'brothers' (she knew Minato only had one child, so there must be something going on behind the scenes that she doesn't know about), telling her they were nothing but trouble. But, unfortunately, Hana was a true Inuzuka and was too stubborn to believe they were potential murderers. If only the third would let her tell her that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Deidara's 'brother'. She wouldn't be so eager to talk with them, that's for sure.

"Mom, you're grinding your teeth again…" Hana told her, watching her mother warily. She knew she could unleash her anger in a blinding fury quite easily. Even though Tsume would NEVER hurt her children, Hana had never seen her this angry before and she wasn't taking any chances.

Tsume snapped out her daze and looked sternly at her daughter. "I don't you or Kiba anywhere near those Uzumaki's!" she ordered.

Hana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I have no idea what you see in them that's so bad!"

"And I have no idea what you see in them that's good!" Tsume snapped in response. "Those boys are an accident waiting to happen! Avoid them before you yourself killed!"

"You're overreacting."

"Overreacting? I'm UNDERreacting! You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Hana, and I want you out before you find out the hard way!"

Hana rolled her eyes again. "I'm going to go help Deidara feed the pups," she said as she headed to the door. "Don't worry, I have a kunai and six years of ninja training under my belt in case the civilian tries to hurt me!" she added, heading out the door.

Tsume glared at the entrance before sighing. "You're a true Inuzuka girl…" she muttered, heaving herself off of the chair in the kitchen. "Too stubborn for your own good…"

Sasori walked into his temporary apartment and pushed the door shut behind him. He had to get his hands on an un-slashed Ame forehead protector. It wouldn't be too hard to get, considering Pein was the leader of the village. It was contacting the Akatsuki leader that was proving difficult. Letters and going to see him in person was out of the question, it would take far too long. He couldn't think of any other way of getting a hold of him. Unless, by some sort of coincidence that-

"Sasori."

Sasori was surprised at the sudden calling of his voice and span around to see his caller. "Hello Zetsu," he greeted, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Just the man I wanted to see!"

"Really? What for?" Zetsu's black half spoke in a harsher tone than his paler side. He always the ruder one of the two personalities. His white half was more kind and sincere. The fact he had two skin colours was weird enough without having each shade of his skin having a separate personality aswell…

"I need you to get me an Ame forehead protector from Pein," he told him. "It's to help me become a 'ninja' for Konoha. It's so I can leave the village freely to return to the base if I ever need to!" he explained, knowing Pein will probably demand an explanation for something so reckless and out of character for the puppet master.

"I'll try, but he'll still want to see you for being an idiot and becoming a Konoha shinobi!" Zetsu agreed and insulted him, all in the same sentence.

Sasori nodded. "I guessed," he stated, nonchalant. "Any particular reason you've come to visit me? I presume you didn't read my mind and popped up here the minute you thought I needed you." Fate wasn't something the red head believed in. It was just another pitiful myth to believe in, like miracles and religion.

"There has being a slight change in your mission."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Zetsu nodded. "Pein wants you to grab the nine-tails kid as well, while you're here, to save time and money. Saving money was Kakuzu's idea, not Pein's. I'm sure Sasori could have figured that much out. I wasn't saying that for Sasori's benefit. I was correcting you!"

"So have you any details for me to make my search any easier?" Sasori interrupted what could drag on to be a very long argument. He didn't have the patience to wait until the plant man was finished.

"He's a boy- No shit Sherlock. And the son of the Yondaime - looks like him too. He recently turned seven and began the academy this year. Jiraiya of the sannin is his Godfather. We haven't dug much else up." Zetsu informed him, his yellow eyes unblinking as he watched the red head.

"You don't know his name?"

"We presume he's a 'Namikaze', like his father."

Sasori nodded, thinking about it. "Tell Pein I'll see what I can do," he said finally, waving a hand to dismiss the spy. "And make sure I get that forehead protector today!" he added, as Zetsu disappeared into the wall his head was sticking out through.

Sasori wasn't sure where to begin on this new part of the mission. He supposed he could ask around, but he doubted the people of Konoha would tell a complete stranger where the son of their hero lived. He supposed he could get Gaara to ask around his class, to see if he was among them. Or, the most likely option, he would have to hunt down this Jiraiya person. Not only will finding the jinchuriki be difficult, but getting him to come with him may be another story altogether….

Babysitting one jinchuriki while hunting another was NOT in his job description…

A/N:

And another chapter bites the dust. :D There might be some hints of DeidaraXHana or ItachiXHana by the way, but I don't know if it will escalate further than that. I love crack pairings so expect a few others too~ ;3

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