A/N: Yet another update! lol, thanks for all the reviews and comments! I don't bite so just click that lil button and make me happy! Ok... A little notice to all you fans!

This is my 2nd long fic that I've made. I plan it to be around 15 chapters or less.

I hope this will be my best work ever.

So please support the story!

Disclaimer: I really wish I owned Naruto but has anything I ever wished for comes true? Hell no. I wish this story was a success but so far its on: Ok.

Chapter 4: Intelligence

Time seemed to silently tick by and they did in fact. The loud ring of the elevator's arrival brought the 2 women back into the world. It was clear that the two were not to be messed with and they both knew it. Temari saw Gaara's expression when he came back from the interviews. His face showed no weakness as usual but there was one important detail that led her to believe that something was up. His face was always neutral. Always has been. Always will be. His non existant brow never rose up with shock or scrunched up together in confusion. Yes, he did have times where he was confused but he never showed it. Showing emotion was weakness. Weakness was not an option for Sabaku no Gaara, the leader of the Suna Corporation, the brother of Sabaku no Kankuro and Sabaku no Temari. They were a team. He was independant but he would never disgrace his team. Temari digested the facts as soon as they took over the company but on that night it all changed, even if it was only slightly.

Sabaku no Gaara showed emotion.

Sure it wasn't much but a simple little glance at him from a sister's point of view could tell that something or someone had made this human iceburg crack.

Flashback:

He walked in casually. A little too casually... Temari's eyebrows rose slightly. Anymore and Gaara would notice and ask her what she was thinking. She could never lie to Gaara. Even if she wanted to. He saw through each and every little lie she had ever tried to tell. Ever since they were young they had known when one of them said a lie. It was from all the relationship experiance that they had together that made this connection possible.

He dropped his keys in the key pot and walked staight into their kitchen, slowly he moved around the room, his steps precise and accurate, never missing where the target was and it showed his change in attitude. As much as Gaara was a human iceburg he relaxed slightly when he was in their rest house. The siblings had pulled in money together to buy the rest house as a place to just be together to talk and do things as siblings. they each had their own house and would go there after time at the rest house. Since all of them could drive it was no problem getting to and from the rest house.

'His stance is tense and calculating...' She noted down mentally and began running over the facts.

'He only had a few meetings and interviews today. Me and Kankuro done most of the paperwork and he seemed fine when we had breakfast...'

'Ok... 8:00- He had a meeting with the advisors... 9:00- Had a meeting with the fiance advisors...10:00- Breakfast...10:30- Interview for Adverts department... 11:15- A short break...12:00- Lunch... 1:00- Paperwork...3:00- Meeting with Suna's sponsers... 4:00- Interview for secretary...5:00- Interview for Sales's assistants...'

She knew his timetable off by heart now. Daisuke had accidently mailed Gaara's timetable onto her inbox and this way she knew where Gaara was all the time. Even if her little brother could protect himself very well he couldn't be protected 24/7.

' He was fine at Lunch and when I was in the meeting at 3pm he was fine... So this little incident happened during 4pm till now...'

Seeing Gaara still in the kitchen drinking the now made coffee she walked towards the garden. She made her steps light and tried to make it as non-suspicious as she possibly could and snuck out of the house. She had a phone call to make and needed complete privacy. Even if Gaara was to suddenly burst out she could always TRY and fool him and say that it was Shikamaru. This chance of Gaara bursting through the garden was low as the garden was one of the places Gaara really never visited, even if it was in their rest house.

Shifting her eyes slightly she concentrated on the phone book on her phone. pressing the buttons at a fast rate she made the call. After several rings the phone was picked up and it was exactly who she wanted to speak to.

"Mushi Mushi Daisuke-kun, its Temari. I need you to tell me about something..." Temari walked towards the end of the garden and looked back towards the rest house. She could see Gaara walk into the lounge and sat on the couch. This was perfect timing. If he had even sat anywhere but the couch he would see Temari through the glass.

"Temari-sama! What a pleasant suprise! What is it you want to know?"

"Did anything strange happen to Gaara around 4pm till now? I don't want you to ask any questions but just answer the question quickly." She kept her eyes on hte red head in question who was 'watching' TV. He wasn't watching it, his eyes were just staring at the black box in front of him. He was too alert.

"Errrr... 4pm... he had around 12 interviewers for the secretary job. The last one though... that last one was the one that spent the most time in the office. She was hired. The interview went on for about 15 minytes and Gaara-sama wanted to hear more from her but was interupted by a fight in the lobby." Daisuke reported detailedly. Daisuke was a man that did his job and did it partly because he needed it but partly beacuse he liked the sand siblings. He was their secretary before they had taken over the company and gave him a promotion after 8 years of hard work. He became Gaara's assistant and did some of his paperwork for him.

" Do you know why she stayed in there for so long?" Temari was interested now. Secretary interviews never lasted more than 5 minutes with Gaara. Its a yes or no answer after he look through their files. He was picky and never seemed to pick one for permanent.

"Gaara-sama seemed to be playing with her. She played along with him. Thats what I think... Please excuse my comments Temari-sama. Thats just what I assume..."

"Daisuke-kun, I believe what you say with no doubt. You have my trust. If this secretary was hired then did it make any effect on Gaara?"

"Yes I think so... Gaara-sama seemed slightly more alert and became very strict with the new interviewers..."

"Thanks Daisuke-kun... say a hello to your wife please."

"Its a pleasure to help Temari-sama..."

She hung up and flipped her phone back into her pocket. She learnt alot from that converstaion... This new secretary... She needed to be checked out. If she was enough to make Gaara 'feel' she definately tops the list of potential girlfriends or potential worst enemy. Either way she needed to be checked and that was that.

Walking back towards the house she slided the door to the left to open the glass door. Gaara was still sitting on the couch and his eyes never left the centre of the TV. He was stressed. Way too stressed.

"Hey Gaara, what's up? Anything happening at work lately?" She asked casually and mentally cursed her curiosity. She wanted to know about the mysterious secretary badly.

"Nothing much" He murmured, his eyes not moving from that centre spot.

"Alright then... If you say so...I'm gonna hit the hay early today... I have a date with Mr Troublesome at the cinema tomorrow..." She walked off and faked a yawn. She had alot of research to crack on tonight and wouldn't get much sleep even if what she said about her date was true.

She stepped into her room and sat down on the chair. She would have to stay at the rest house for the night. Kankuro was still at the office finishing the puppets project he suggested and wouldn't stay here anyway. Gaara might just go back to his house after his little 'episode' is over.

She switched on the computer and looked absently at a picture that sat on the table of the computer desk. It was a recent picture of her and Shikamaru. They were at the park and someone took this for them, Shikamaru had his arm around her and she snuggled under him. Shikamaru had his face turned towards the sky, she remembered that exactly that moment the guy who took it took the shot. He had muttered about how pointless and troublesome it was but was elbowed by her after the picture.

She whispered to the picture:

"Sorry, Shika-kun... Family comes first..." Silently she put the picture face down on the table and began typing away on her keyboard. Trying to find out more about the mysterious secretary.

End Flashback

They stepped into the elevator silently and regarded each other again. They were careful around each other and just like how she handed Gaara she handled Temari the same way. Even though Temari isn't as dangerous she was still a force to be reckoned with. They were walking a very thin line and was dangerous in so many ways. Temari turned out to be the person to break the silence.

"Sakura.You are now Gaara's secretary right?"

"Hai Temari-san..." She looked her right in the face when she said that. Most people were timid and shy around her, Temari was a strong woman and other woman would pale before her but for once a new person stood up to meet her eyes. This person was Sakura.

"Look after him ok? I trust you." She looked absently at the pink haired woman in front of him. She was what he needed after all. She had made a crack in the shield and eventually as she keep cracking on that same spot she would eventually get through to him. She couldn't do it as her sister but it was the next best thing to get someone to do it.

"Temari-san... we just met... how can you trust me?" this girl was no dumbass.

"Heh, lets just say I have a feeling that I can trust you with my little brother who's no doubt gonna rip my head off for bring late..." They stepped out of the elevator and walked up to Gaara's door. The whole office seem to freeze in time and the whole office turned to the two woman. They all knew how Temari dressed and compared to Sakura she really did stand out.

"What the hell are you all looking at? If you don't have work I can give you work!" Temari barked and the whole office suddenly came back to life and the phones began to ring and the people moved like how they were before. She walked confidently up to Gaara's door and reached for the door handle, she bounced back slightly and coughed.

"I don't think I should just barge in..." She said and rubbed her head in embarrassment. Even she had the brain to think before doing something rash. On the other hand Haruno Sakura, age 23 just gotten into a mental competition with her boss, the owner of the Suna Corporation and practically leader of the world's industry.

Temari knocked at the door 3 times, swinging the door handle and walked confidently into the room, unaware of the impending war between the people inside.

In she came, in all her glory. It was as if time froze and the two men both stared at the two women who had walked in. The one that came in first was caped in black and her blood red lip stick stuck out on her pastal coloured skin. The blonde woman didn't freeze like the man but simply regarded him quietly and quickly while snapping her attention back to her brother who was watching the both anxiously as if waiting for a war to start out. Her skirt swayed lightly in the slight breeze that came in through the window, she shivered and the coffee coloured hair man swallowed slightly. She still had the same effect on him and it was only natural that he reacts to such a small movement. The silence was lost when the door shut and the pink haired woman entered the room with coffee and tea for the 3 people in the room. The whole room was tense but she reacted well to it, after all she had managed to survive Gaara. She could do make do with the atmosphere for now. It wasn't anything new and she asked the guests politely, her manners unfailing and her smile a little too fake.

"Makinova-san, nice to see you again." Temari said to the man in the chair and turned her gaze lightly towards Gaara.

"Gaara... What is it that you need?"

"Temari, Makinova-san would like you to inform him of the Jackle company that we have recently allied ourslef with, their products are interesting and as the manager on the West and East I would like you to give him a presentation on it." He looked straight at her and she looked at him. The message was clear now. Gaara always handed these cases, he wouldn't tell her to do it unless he was really desperate or needed to buy some time. Clearly the latter was the case.

"Hai, Sakura... Can you help me set up the projector over there please...?" She pointed to the empty part of the wall and walked over to Gaara's desk, Gaara's eyes never left Makinova and wasn't bothered by his sister invading what he used to call: 'His Space'. What mattered now was that Makinova got his paws off Temari. Kankuro was missing and he needed to question that but for now he had matters to deal with and a competition to win.

Temari sat on his desk and pressed the telecom device that sat on his desk. After a few rings a person answered.

"Mushi Mushi, I would like you to bring my projector and the Jackle Company's folder here along with the slides that came in with the introduction pack."

She swung her leg around and placed her right leg over her lefts, the movement was so quick that it practically happened in a fraction of a second and immediately Sakura knew what she was up to.

Hell... and I thought I was smart... This woman...Temari... She's quick... Makinova's a pervert and she wanted to cross her legs... That mini-skirt was getting WAY too much attention, she did it fast so she wouldn't give the man a nosebleed...

She picked up the papers and smirked. It was getting more interesting by the second. A battle of wits. The best man wins... but in this case...Best man or woman. Temari was joining into this battle and she was either and ally or an enemy. The position she chooses now decides everything.

Looks like we have a new player...

Silence entered the room as the breeze was filtered through the windows. It marked the calm before the strom and they knew it all too well. Makinova had his eyes on Temari and it shifted slightly to the pink haired secretary who was eyeing her boss with a fast glance. It seemed like a stare off was made in that connection and the victor was un-named. Only time could tell.

Soft knocks were heard and the tension rose. The creaking of the door echoed through the room and Daisuke walked in, a trolley of equipment followed him by the pull of his hand, a simple projector, a few bright leaflets and a laptop layed on the surface of the trolley. The fair haired man looked around the room and spotted the blonde, he bowed slightly and she nodded to him and pointed to the empty space between the bookshelves. A nod towards her direction was all it took to get Sakura helping the man with the equipment.

Several minutes ticked by and the only noise in the room remained to be the only noise heard. The office practically had been sound proved and bullet proved when the siblings redecorated it to Gaara's liking. Soft shuffling and several quite conversation between Sakura and Daisuke later they had sorted the projector up with the laptop which with its shiny black tatoo like patterns confirmed it was indeed Temari's beloved Laptop the blonde switched on the projector than the laptop.

A strange decision.

Why would she switch on the projector first? When the laptop comes on it would show her desktop and anything private on it... Is it just a habit or...what?

Gaara looked at Temari, the expression on his face still as icy as the iceburgs in the North Pole. A slight tilt of her head towards the folder was all it took for Gaara to reach for the folder and open it as in mock, regular, checking to see if everything is fine. His eyes scanned through the front page quickly and he fired a smirk at Sakura who was looking from the folder to him. He was going to win unless she does something. Something fast.

Ramming herself deep into her thoughts Temari looked at her. That split second that Sakura locked herself into her mind to find a soloution it only took mere seconds for Temari to figure the this whole mess up.

Sakura made this mess for Gaara to fix...She did this on purpose.

This was...interesting...

Lets see what you can do now...Sakura...

Swiftly she twirled towards Gaara and fired a confident smirk, looking at the front page of the folder. Temari watched the exchanged expression quietly and noted quickly down that Haruno Sakura has an ace up her sleeve. Or so she said in that one smirk. Either she had an ace or plain bluffing she would have to find out. She didn't appriciate the girl bring this pervert into this war but for the sake of her brother's love life she would just have to deal with it for now. It was plain obvious that he didn't like the secretary in any way, not even as a friend and the secretary didn't like her boss anymore than a prisoner liking the people that condemed him but it was like that they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The polor opposites of each other proved itself to be the point where the two attracted, even with each other's flauses they could help each other to stand up.

They were exactly what the other needed.

Gaara scanned the pages of the folder with shock written over his eyes but not his expression, nobody but Sakura and Temari could read that look. He was way shocked. Beyond shocked. He was paralysed into his seat and his aqua like eyes reflected his dismay. Even if he used to be heartless and didn't give a damn if his siblings died he cared now. He changed. Changed... was it a word to describe him? He was able to feel pieces of his once long gone feelings and now he finally felt for the first time to in life:

Worry.

He was worried for this company.

Worried for what would happen if Makinova didn't approve.

Worried of what would happen to him.

To his siblings.

All those years of hard work would be put to waste.

All because of this.

He couldn't let it happen.

He just couldn't.

A soft tap was all it took to shake Gaara's intense stare at the folder and he tore his eyes from the pages and onto the screen of the projection.

It was a bad joke.

Way too much of a bad joke.

On the screen was Temari's desktop. her background covered the whole screen and the 3 people audience just stared at it. Makinova shifted at the picture and Sakura just looked at it. Gaara looked from the background to Temari, firing a silnet but loud enough eye contact message to his sister.

What the hell do you think you're doing?

On the background was a photo.

A photo like no other.

A photo of Temari and Shikamaru in the park.

Holding hands.

Looking into each other's eyes.

Lips almost touching.

So close.

Caught and put onto Temari's desktop.

Makinova shifted from left to right, his eyes avoided the screen as if a laser would fire at him if he did. Memories refreshed into his mind and as if a needle had prickled him he stood up quickly from his seat and looked straight at Temari. The shout never came, the silence never ended and he just looked at her. Then it all broke.

"Nara Shikamaru...Konoha Corporation, Advisor for the leader Tsunade-san...I lost to him...I must say I lost to a good opponent...but one that has enough brain to work out at least 100 stratergies but not be able to work out the minds of a woman..." he chuckled and looked at her again, his gaze holding her in.

"Makinova-san...The Jackle Company..." Sakura reminded and was immediately glared at from the red head from across the room who still hasn't dissiperated his anger yet. The folder...

It was empty.

Hidden behind the colourful front page was a few sheets of:

Clear,

White,

Paper.

At any other time and a different person this would be considered a joke. Maybe a bad one but still a joke. But this was definately not a bad joke to Gaara.

This was pure evil.

To have thought of replacing the sheets of information with clean pieces of paper and leave no trace of ever touching it. She was smart. Too smart for her own good but in this case too smart for Gaara's own good. He had no time to switch on the computer and conduct a full detailed report of the Jackle company in the next 5 seconds and his life was practically doomed. All thanks to Sakura.

See... Don't underestimate me jerk!

Hell yeah!

Smirking. That was one of the many habits she somehow inherited off of her beloved boss. It was similar to a smile but not quite there. It was like a sneer but showed more than a sneer. She liked it. No. She loved it. She did all of the planning last night, even if it took longer than she would have thought she managed to make this flawless plan on her revenge. Her arms ached and her muscles screamed in agony last night but in exchange for the sweet icy serving of revenge she numbed her pains and typed away on her office laptop. Trasferring the files were hard work but she made it and somehow through all fo it she couldn't help but feel a prickle of guilt. She brushed it aside and switched off the laptop and left her guilt to be carried away by the autumn breeze that slipped through the cracks of her windows. Drifting off to some place else. Far away.

Guilt and worry had tempararily set up its camp upon her poor soul and at times one of the sides would win. It wasn't easy to love inside of a body that practically has 2 minds stuck together with ducktape and glued together and super-glue. It ate at her soul and would kept her waking and sleeping, a routine that had somehow landed onto her last night. She would wake up every five minutes or so, sweating like a pig on a hot day, her arms would automatically wrap themself around her and she would hold herself, her nightmare fades ever so slightly. She would tell herslef that it was just a dream, nothing but a dream and will just be a dream. Her resons were silence by her thoughts of her actions and she would shiver a little, the non existant breeze brushing her back softly as if caressing her skin and kissing it slightly. Fate was playing with her like a toy, an interesting yet difficult toy to play with. Fate moved her to be with him. Fate moves her one step closer to the light known as insanity.

How she managed to hide that small yet growing bulge in her soul was yet another skill that came from experiances. To die inside but not let a single soul know...

It was an Art.

Art that covers up all the blemishes that were made in the past.

Art that wipes away all the unclean marks that were on her and made her feel different.

She buried herself inside that pile of work. Inside that next coursework. Inside the charts and statistics she made. The numbers crowded themself around her and made her invunable. Or so she thinks. Each tear was hidden within every book she scanned and every bit of sadness into the little origami stars she made. Little hexagons that were kept in different jars and containers. They littered her home but made it her home. Every jar had a different colour and a different part of her life stored into it, a different time long before she was the person she was today, the jars marked every little thing that had a major impact on her life. Whether a something happy or sad she would wrap the little strip of paper around the hexagon and think of it. Her fingers had papercuts and bled but it didn't matter. The little droplets of her life liquid would harmlessly pour itself into the star; marking it, staining it and sealing its mark on it.

What has Gaara ever done to deserve mercy?

Did he give me any?

She would repeat the sentences in her head like a chant and the message would get into her head and fill it with the fuel for revenge.

Hate.

She would argue back to the chant and ask her own questions.She was her own self. Why should she be tied down to something as troublesome as hate?

Haruno Sakura... look at yourself.. What are you?

Tell me...

The end was drawing near and they all knew it. Either one of them gives the presentation or they lose out. Simple as that. Eyes shifted across the room wildly but Gaara's eyes were glued to Sakura, a glare was shared and nothing but silence hit the room once more.

"Makinova-san..." Sakura whispered and moved towards the man. The man acknowledged her with a slight nod and glued his stare onto her. Temari wasn't the only one in this room that did a number on him. The secretary of the tempered red head sure could give a show.

"Makinova-san... Gaara-sama decided for me to give you the presentation since he's busy today... He has an apointment at 12pm and lots more packed up for today... He wanted me to give you a detailed report and if you would like... Gaara-sama can attend his meetings and Temari-san could escort him and I can give you the presentation..." She faked a blush and stared at the floor in fake embarrassement. She had to act like a high school girl with a major crush on this guy. She has seen much better men and as much as she hated to admitt it, even the stuck up Gaara had better qualities than this pervert.

She flashed a brief look at Gaara who obserbed the scene quietly and glared at her from his spot next to his desk. His secretary sure knows how to piss him off and if it wasn't that he was attracted to her and have an interest in playing with her he would have kicked her out the door before she even came in. In an almost comical way a vain that rested on his temple rose with anger and he clamped down on his tounge to stop any insults from leaking out.

"Ah! Sakura-chan... this is a great way to...errr... bond between out two companies... How about we meet up one of these days for lunch and you can give me the presentation there?" Makinova waved his eyebrow at the disgusted yet still very good actress Sakura who kept her cool and managed to save the man from inner Sakura's wrath.

HELL AM I GONNA GO TO LUNCH WITH THIS PIECE OF COW MANURE!!!

The siblings looked from one to another and a quick and silent decision was made by the two to kill Kankuro and Sakura after this little event.

Damn you Kankuro! If you were here it might have been abit more help!

Temari wasn't complaining as much though. She had overall had a balanced of events.

1: She lost the perverted stalker that nearly ruined her relationship with the guy she loves.- GOOD

2: Her brother is damn pissed and they might end up losing major business from this.- BAD

She sighed and looked back at the pink haired woman. It was as if she had them all captivated in the palm of her hand without so much as to lift a finger or touch them for that matter. She was way too much of Gaara's opposite to have them together.

But with a little twist here and there it would only take seconds for them to collide.

This was gonna be one hell of a turn of events.

Also known as:

A Revolution.

Slowly, she cleared up the desk and even when she was hard at work shuffling papers and sweeping the desk she could feel his eyes following her and a glare that was as deadly as a knife. She ignored the stare and sighed. The plan worked out well but a few twists happened that almost overthrown the whole cause of the plan in mere seconds. She didn't expect that the great Sabaku no Gaara would even think about asking for help. It was just simply...

Out of her thinking range...

She finished the work she did volentarily as if she didn't have a care in the world and walked out of the office gracefully, not losing her focus on Gaara's eyes as she walked out. He was still staring at her like she was some kind of celestial being that had flown down from heaven and hit him on the head with a rubber duck. She gathered her work that had somehow piled up onto her small miniture desk and grabbed her pale peach coloured coat that hung on the coat hangers. Balancing all her work and managing to open the door she walked out off the skyscraper and headed towards the park that she used perminately as her shortcut home. Her red haired boss had followed her, mimicing her actions before she left the office and had grabbed his coat before comming out to greet the autumn winds.

Soft tapping on the pavement was all that was heard, the sound of bird's singing was replaced by the wind and the pink haired woman winced at the cold, brutal weather that she had to suffer since moving here. She could still feel Gaara's gaze on her, it was like a tingle, a soft tingle that was similar to the gut feeling that most people have.

Instinct.

She sat her workpile down onto a nearby seating area the park had recently added and noted the her boss was still on her tail. If it was any other man she would ahve called the police by now but he was a different case. He was her boss and if she actually did call the police it wouldn't help to decrease his increasing temper. She sighed and waited for the red haired man to break the silence that seemed to hung over her like a thick curtain and he didn't fail her expectation.

"Why?"

She wasn't shocked or expected the word that came out of his mouth. She had expected a good old shout at her and a few threats from this man but so far she got one simple word. Just one word.

"Why? That was exactly what I wanted to ask you Gaara-kun" She used her normal sarcasm in this and he raised his non existant eyebrows at her.

"Why what?"

"Why the hell are you stalking me?" She couldn't help but laugh inside. The thought of Sabaku no Gaara stalking her behind every corner in a comical way just made her crack up. The thought had suddenly turned freaky and she looked back at her boss who was doing: ' The Eyebrow Thing' again. One non existant eyebrow went up and the other stayed down. It was hilarious but it did nothing to cheer her mood from the transformation of that last thought.

Gaara behind every corner.

Every road.

Every room.

Everywhere.

The hairs on her back were standing up and she shivered slightly. How the heck did that thought slip into there? The man in question still stared at her and she just about had it up to her head with it. It was creepy and didn't help with the other thought.

"Would you quit staring at me? It's damn creepy..." She picked up her work and glanced one more time at him. Her eyes lingered on his eyes and face before walking out of the place and leaving him with the comfort of the wind.

A/N: Ok... I killed my hand doing this chapter so it would REALLY be nice if the people who put me on alerts at least give it a go and leave a small review... This chapter took me weeks but I'll TRY and make an update by next week... A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to those reading and spending time on Fanfiction lately! Have a wonderful christmas and have everything you ever wanted!

BlueSkyHeaven

PS: For those wondering this chapter is actually around 5700 words altogether and breaking my record!