I guess my time had finally come then.

The messenger bird was waiting for me at my window when I arrived back at the apartment after my morning shift in the tea shop. I let out a relieved sigh when I realized Sasuke hadn't been here to see the bird arrive at the window sill. Because really, what reason would a Suna messenger bird have to be here? Nothing good, certainly.

I approached the brown hawk quickly, untying the parchment from its tiny leg as fast as possible so as to facilitate its quick departure. I spoke a quick 'thank you' to the bird before it took off and flew back to wherever it came from.

The little parchment was easy to unroll and it contained the only words I knew that it would:

My office, this afternoon.

The message was frank, and lacked a sender, but it didn't take very much to put together who it had come from - at least to me, considering the situation. I had been dreading this moment for two weeks (though in reality it had felt like so much more). In fact, it had been almost two weeks to the day that Gaara had pulled me into his office, giving me an (albeit very dry) ultimatum. Exile or Submission. I begrudgingly picked submission, for the sake of the life that I - Sasuke and I - had built here. I briefly wondered if that made me weak.

I closed my eyes in irritation and infused the parchment with my chakra, shrivelling it into dirt.

I threw my apron on the bed, and left for Gaara's office.


A tall Shinobi with paint on the right side of his face and a white veil covering the left met me at the lower levels of the building when I arrived. He appraised me upon my arrival, a stern and skeptical look on his face. He was either assessing my capabilities, or determining if I was going to be a problem.

"The Kazekage is expecting you." he spoke almost begrudgingly.

The Sand shinobi guided me right up to the upper levels of the administrative building (and up that huge staircase) and to the Kazekage's office. I rose an unsure hand to the door, and before I had a chance to knock, I heard a small 'come in' from the other side.

Gaara sat at his small desk, filling out paperwork from the two inch thick stack that sat in front of him. He barely even glanced my way when he told me to have a seat. I did as I was told, and gracelessly threw myself into the seat. He looked up at that, and gave me a disapproving look as if he was silently chiding me for not being more poised.

I rose an eyebrow in question almost challenging him to comment on my lack of grace, he didn't. Instead he folded his hands in front of him and gave an inaudible sigh, "Thank you for coming so swiftly."

I made a face, "Well I didn't think I had a choice?"

He chose not to answer and instead decided to broach the reason why he had called upon me in the first place, "I have my first assignment for you."

Great. I had known that this was the reason why he had called me here, but now that he finally confirmed it to true, made me feel worse. How was I even supposed to hide this from Sasuke? I'd be gone for who knows how long to who knows where and expect him not to notice? The fact that I had to hide anything from him after what we went through scared me. Our troubles were forgiven but not necessarily forgotten, and attempting to shove something like doing missions for the Kazekage under the rug was not ideal. In fact, it seemed to just be another crack in the ice.

Gaara opened a manila folder to the side and pulled out a crisp piece of parchment from the top. He turned it so that it faced me. It was a case file, I couldn't make out the details, but the photo that was paper clipped to the corner of the page was enough to make my heart sink.

"Is that…?" I stumbled looking at the photo of the picture in front of me. He nodded a 'yes' as if he knew what I was going to ask before I even had to finish my sentence.

It was a photo of my home village, Iwagakure. I didn't even know the mission parameters and what it consisted of, but if there was one thing that was for sure, it had to do with my home.

The details of case file itself were quite spartan, a couple of paragraphs here, sentences there. It was as if what he was showing me lacked any real depth; as if the fragment of the file that I was seeing (and I had already come to the conclusion that it was a fragment of something bigger), was strictly need-to-know.

"There's...instability on the Earth and Wind border, I need a team out there as soon as possible to assess the situation."

"What kind of instability?" I asked as I tore my eyes away from the paper. If he was going to have me out there with a team of shinobi who I wasn't familiar with, the least he could do was be forthright with me.

There was a reluctant look in his eye, as if he was determining what and how much he should tell me.

"I mentioned last time I spoke with you that we were on somewhat good terms with Iwagakure?" I nodded yes, and he took that as a sign to continue, "It appears that may have been a generous assessment."

I narrowed my eyes knowing exactly what he was getting at, "So how bad is it?"

Gaara let out an almost defeated sigh, an answer all in itself. The calm shell of a person who I had known until this moment disappearing for a fraction of a second, before gathering himself together again.

"It is bad enough that I require your assistance," he looked me dead in the eye, "but at this point in time we are still gathering intelligence, which is what I need of you."

"Care to offer me any specifics? Skirting around the problem isn't going to help me in the long run."

He nodded slowly, "Very well," The Kazekage had a thoughtful look on his face, as if considering where to start, "For some time now, there has been a strain on our village's relationship with Iwagakure. It began when we attempted to better our economic welfare. There are important resources at the Wind and Earth border that this land could use to benefit our economy."

"Like?"

"Sediment, clay - minerals that do not come naturally in our climate because of the expansive desert." He caught the questioning look in my eye and explained further, "these are assets that can be used in forging weapons, or even just cookware."

So, the Kazekage is interested in fine China? Well there's something I never thought I'd hear.

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

"Iwagakure does not believe that the minerals are ours to take, even though it falls on neutral ground."

Ugh, typical cause for conflict. Human beings were so petty sometimes.

"Technically it's not theirs either."

"Exactly. However, I sent a squad out a couple days ago to scout digging areas regardless of the Tsuchikage's displeasure, but I have not heard anything from them since."

I rose an eyebrow, "All this fuss for some clay?"

"We have the worst economy of all the Five Great Shinobi Nations, a direct result of our geographic location. As Kazekage, it is my responsibility to ensure that the people of this village prosper. I cannot do that when Iwagakure may be threatening action." Fair enough.

"Wouldn't a Sand shinobi be better suited to a mission like this?" I regarded him with a skeptical look. He barely knew me (albeit he probably knew a lot more about me than I knew) and yet he had entrusted me with a mission of this magnitude? I mean, the mineral thing seemed pretty trivial, but the repercussions of this conflict could be vast. Exactly how desperate was he? "I mean you said it yourself, I'm a wanted criminal and it sounds like you've got a lot riding on this intelligence."

"It is your village Isaaru, you are familiar with the ways in which they operate - that makes you perfect for this mission. Your mere presence is already an advantage."

Suddenly I was starting to understand the reasons why he needed me, and why he spared me and Sasuke the fate of exile. It was not out of the goodness of his own heart that he allowed us to remain here in Suna, it was a gesture entirely out of self-interest. I couldn't blame him, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in his position.

"Exactly. What's to stop me from going back to them? From allying with them against you?" To be honest that hadn't been something that had crossed my mind, the question acted as more of a challenge. Personally, I thought the issue of land ownership was silly. I was playing devil's advocate so I could determine how far he was willing to go to complete the mission. Growing up in Iwagakure, one learned very early on of the importance of completing a mission - even if it meant death. There was no such thing as failure, unless of course, you wanted to feel the wrath of the Tsuchikage - and Onoki's Particle Style was not something to be trifled with.

I myself already knew that I could never go back, I had no family to speak of, and I'd most likely be cut down by the very Stone shinobi I was training to become all those years ago. The fact of the matter was was that I had nothing or no one waiting for me if I did. Suna was the only place I could call home now.

The Kazekage didn't answer at first, but I could tell by the way he was looking at me that the gears in his head were turning. This was something he must have already thought about and considered.

"You won't," He didn't even flinch when I had asked him, he was prepared for it. He wouldn't be a very good Kazekage - or even shinobi - if he couldn't think a couple steps ahead, anticipate every possible outcome, "because not only will those Stone shinobi choose to attack first and ask questions later, the surrogate family you have here will be held responsible for harbouring enemies of the state."

God, this guy was such a bastard. I gave him a dangerous look as he said these words, appalled at the implication that he would punish Midori and perhaps even Kenta for allowing me to carry on this pretence for all these years.

"That's how you want to play this then?"

"Honestly I'd rather not defer to such tactics, but if it means keeping you in check then I will do what I must," there was an almost regretful look in his eye as he spoke, "You understand."

Unfortunately I did. In fact no matter how displeased I was to hear what he might do to my surrogate aunt and cousin - people who I had come to see as friends - I understood his rationale completely. In fact, in some ways I admired him for it. Though I had heard that the Kazekage had softened up in the past few years, it was good to know he didn't lose a certain edge. He was pragmatic and he played the game to his advantage; and right now his advantage was getting me to follow orders my own way, while at the same time keeping me in a tight chokehold. I was his soldier now.

I regarded him for a few seconds, his gaze never wavering from mine, and sighed exasperatedly, "Fine, it's not like I have a family to go back to anyway."

Gaara looked at me curiously then, like he knew something I hadn't. Perhaps he did, he knew a lot of things. Whatever it was, he chose not to comment.

Two knocks sounded at the door then.

"One moment," Gaara called to the door before he turned his attention back to me, "you leave at dawn tomorrow and will meet your four man squad at the gates - do not be late." He tossed me a duffle from behind his desk as he spoke.

I took that as my cue to leave, his tone very final. A feeling of dread overcoming me as I rose from my seat. I hadn't been a village mule for quite some time now, and I didn't know if I possessed the capacity to play well with others.

My hand gripped the handle of the office door, before I turned back to face Gaara, "What am I supposed to tell him?" Knowing that he would know exactly who it was that I was referring to.

Gaara was already back to his paperwork at that point, but when he heard my question he stopped writing and gazed at me sternly, "I don't care what you tell him, so long as he doesn't interfere - otherwise I will be forced to."

I nodded faintly and opened the door, coming face-to-face with the person - people - who had been knocking only moments ago. A man who did not seem much older than I was stood in front of me in black robes, and burgundy face paint.

What, does everyone around here wear make-up?

To this right, a woman. She was pretty, blonde, and carried what looked like a fan on her back. They looked down at me appraisingly, dissatisfied looks on their faces.

I returned it with a look of my own, scowling at them before I turned the corner, and them straight into the office.

I decided then that I didn't like Sand shinobi, they seemed to all have something rotten up their asses.


A/N: Alrighty beauts, I mentioned before (a long, long time ago) that I am deviating from canon. The previous chapter implied that around the time Isaaru settled into Suna, that Gaara had returned from being kidnapped by the Akatsuki. However, the Fourth Shinobi World War hasn't occurred...yet (if at all). So that's where we're at right now. Might be confusing, but HEY it is fiction/AU after all? All da possibilities~