A/N: Epilogue to Misconceptions.
"Good," Tsunade said, folding her hands. "This is very good news, Kankuro."
"If what you saw is correct," said Gaara, "things are going according to plan."
Kankuro tapped his forehead, grinning. "I tailed them to Ichiraku Ramen. I know what I saw."
Gaara nodded. "Excellent. The two villages will be linked after all."
"Now that they've rekindled their relationship," Tsunade mused, "I'd say that their wedding will take place in a couple of months, wouldn't you?"
A faint smile played on Gaara's lips. "Yes, I think so. And this time, they will participate in it willingly. It will be a beneficial situation for them and for our villages. We do need a marriage to seal the alliance, after all."
Beaming, Kankuro crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"Reverse psychology is fun, ain't it?"
Tsunade picked up her papers and stood up, her chair emitting a high-pitched screech as it scraped against the floor.
"Well then," the Godaime said, "I'll see you two at the wedding."
High heels clicking against the floor, Tsunade made her way out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Kankuro turned to Gaara, chuckling.
"So you guys planned this from the start, huh?" he said admiringly.
"Yes," his brother admitted.
Kankuro tapped his chin thoughtfully. "So let me get this straight. You knew that Shikamaru was still miffed over Temari's seven year disappearance. And you knew that Temari hates people meddling with her love life. So you pushed them into a marriage."
Gaara spoke evenly. "We purposely gave Temari a set of diplomatic rules to force her to put up anything Shikamaru did, because we knew that Shikamaru would resort to drastic measures to get out of the marriage. He was still secretly hurt and angry at Temari."
"So then you made them go on a week's worth of dates so they would get put off by each other," Kankuro was delighted at the kages' scheme. "And then finally, they both snapped and the truth came out on both sides. Then they decided to work together to stop the marriage. So that's why you guys were so unwilling to interfere."
"In the process, they sorted out the whole matter with Temari's absence and rekindled any feelings they had before her leave," Gaara stated calmly. "So in the near future, they will most likely pursue an authentic wedding, where both of them will wish to be married. And then that wedding can be used as the bonding contract between Konoha and Sunagakure."
Kankuro shook his head, impressed. "Clever stuff. Manipulating their feelings—geez, Gaara. You kages are some pretty devious matchmakers."
"This is a strictly diplomatic matter," Gaara said. But he hid a smile.
A/N: LOL, there will be a wedding after all! Those devious kages. XD
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