Chapter 02

The next day, Temari headed towards the library right after her breakfast. Kankuro was bragging about his new creation to an admirer a few feet away from the door.

Gaara was quietly returning huge books back on the shelves, only glimpsing briefly at her when she entered. His gourd was back to it's shapeless sand form beside him.

"Gaara," She uttered softly. He didn't respond and continued with what he was doing. She felt a little irritated and decided to try again- louder this time, "Gaara!"

"I heard you the first time!" he growled as he spun around, making her heart skip a beat, "I have no intention of having some tête-à-tête with you."

Temari cleared her throat, 'I expected that..' she thought to herself, 'I can do this..'

"I heard from Baki about it," she began, ignoring what he had said. Gaara glared back, she quickly went on, sweating her heart out, "a Shukaku Jinchūriki has a slightly different plan than normal people." Now he was listening as he gazed at her indolently.

"They get a chance to feel pain.. Um.. Effortlessly.." She hesitated. Gaara's eyes widened with a glint of interest and impatience.. She was panicking.

"During intimate moments, when a Shukaku Jinchūriki and his/her partner both share intimate moment.." if Gaara had any eyebrows he would have raised one "the Jinchūriki can experience pleasurable pain that result from hickies.. And it applies more on homosexuals, and results show that there's about a 90 percent chance that a Shukaku Jinchūriki can turn out gay."

Gaara had heard enough and took his leave, half-stomping in his steps. 'Oh, shit!' Temari thought. "Gaara?"

"I feel like destroying something."

CRUNCH

"My new puppet!!" came Kankuro's disheartened cry. Temari jumped and ran out as fast as she could. Gaara had disappeared, and so did Konkuro's admirer.

"At least you're alive.."

"I have a little shrimp for a brother and I can't even beat the shit out of him!" Konkuro complained, crossing his arms.

"How do you think I feel?!" Temari replied, "this is worse than a mother teaching her little kid about gay sex."

Kankuro stiffened, "I didn't want to know that."

"I know."

I love and trust myself alone.. And I fight solely for myself..

On the day of their departure:

"You are going to do what I say when I say it!" Gaara commanded "I do not want any trouble coming from any of you." He then turned to check the passports with Baki.

"What is he? Our boss?" Kankuro whispered to Temari.

"I heard that." Gaara warned, "And yes, I am"

Throughout their trip to Konoha, none of them dared to say a word, incase Gaara looses it.

Team Kakashi just finished up with their mission. Sasuke took off restively, rejecting Sakura's date offer stating that he had better things to do than such nonsense. Kakashi eyed him warily, but diverted his attention towards the bird flying above them. 'A meeting, ne?' He then set off without a word. Shortly the self-proclaimed Konoha troopers joined Sakura and Naruto in their 'rock'.

Sasuke jumped down the large tree branch and made sure he was by himself before he sulked down, rubbing his forehead as he leaned on the tree trunk. 'It's getting exceedingly tedious,' he thought, 'sometimes it becomes unavoidable.. I can't believe I lost my temper at Naruto.. Maybe I need to rest..' he grabbed 3 rocks that were nearby, close his eyes and tried to clear his head when, out of the darkness of his mind, he revisited the men's bathhouse full of naked men. His eyes snapped open, 'sonna..' he saw his hard on, 'damn, I shouldn't have gone to the onsen with the guys!'

He cursed under his breath, 'I need to stay focused if I'm going to surpass Itachi, kill him, and restore the clan.. Damn.'

Sasuke propped his head up as he heard some an argument from where he had left the gang. 'At least that can take my mind off my insecurities..' The irony.. The great Sasuke has vulnerabilities..

"You two can go ahead," said Baki, "Gaara will join you shortly.. I will be finishing up at the place we're staying." Temari and Kankuro breathed in deep and sighed in relief.

"Gaara, you have fine and fast scouting skills.. You know what to do"

Gaara just took off silently, 'guess we really are going to war.' He took out his notebook and began scratching down notes as he cautiously hopped from place to place. On his last stop, he stopped. He had witnessed 2 people making-out. Gaara cocked his head to the side and decided to have a closer look. To his surprise they were two men.

".. There's about a 90 percent chance that a Shukaku Jinchūriki can turn out gay.."

'Could I be..' the boy bit his lip, 'no, no.. I can love no one but me..' For a split second, Gaara felt a sudden pang in his head. 'Damn it, Yahsamaru.." He closed he eyes, grabbed scalp, and gritted his teeth. 'No, this will not happen again.. I've come this far.. All by myself..' After his head was cleared, he took one last look at the couple then left.

The avenger sneakily hurried towards the ruckus. He scanned the area then and scene. The 2 foreigners were conversing with his teammates and some kids. One of them was manhandling Konohamaru and bullying the rest, while the other girl ninja was trying to calm him down. "Well, after this shrimp I'm going to kill the other annoying midget!" he harassed. The fan-wielding girl declared her un-involvement. Sasuke threw one of the 3 rocks in his hand and with a direct hit. The rock had hit Kankuro's hand hard, forcing him to let go of the little boy.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?"

By the time he found his older siblings, they were already causing trouble. But a shinobi that seemed to be called Sasuke intervened dramatically. Even Temari was infatuated with him.

Gaara stood upside-down on a nearby branch and watched.

Kankuro took out Karasu. Temari began to protest. 'How can that idiot act disgracefully when I specifically asked not to?'

"Stop it Kankuro! You are an embarrassment tour village!"

Sasuke was startled, 'his stealth skills surpass Kakashi's!'

The avenger observed how the 2 sand ninjas were terrified from the one with beautiful, cold, haunting eyes. They finally gave in when he threatened to kill. Sakura asked why they were there, and they responded that they were here for the Chuunin Exam. 'Chuunin will take place here then.. And sooner than expected,' Sasuke thought. The 3 Suna ninjas were attempting to leave for the 2nd time, 'I have to know his name..' Sasuke began, "Hey! What's your name?"

Temari responded, "Who? Me?"

"No, the 1 with the gourd."

Gaara, looked back at him, "Subaku no Gaara.. You're interested in me? I'm interested in you too.. Your name?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke put on his cool grin while Gaara stared numbly until Naruto butted in.

"Hey! What about me, huh?" came his loud overly-cheerful voice.

"Not interested.." Came Gaara's flat voice, "exo!"

And the foreigners were gone.

'He is definitely a strong one,' Sasuke thought, 'and kindna cute too..'

--

Siyakatzi's ranting space:

Sorry it took so long.. Well yesterday (26/4/2008) was my cousin's wedding, and well it wasn't a very happy one.. She would choke in a lot with distant watery eyes.. Her mother had died not so long ago and our aunties (her mother's sisters) were crying as well- no, I'm pretty sure they weren't tears of joy because their faces definitely showed a lot of pain and sadness.. We were hoping her mother would make it.. We tried not to show it, but it was in the air.. after that, I was so out of it..