Yes, I know that it has been an indecently long time, but I have a lot of good excuses.

Firstly, I am in the tenth grade. This is a SUPER important grade in my country.

Secondly, they recently changed our education system to this awful parody of hell.

Thirdly, I have been seriously sick.

Fourthly, I had exams.

And fifthly, this story is beginning to give me writer's block.

That's all. I won't waste any more of your time.

Disclaimer applies, as usual.

Chapter 16

Sand Politics

The sand was ever-present and ever-changing, unstable, shifting, just like himself.

He had the ability to adapt. He had always known it, from the very moment that he was born – no, from the very moment when Shukaku had been inserted inside his body, even inside his mother's womb. He was like the sand – restless, uncontrollable, wild, proud, and free.

His entire family believed in the elemental qualities and differences of a person. Every person belonged to a different element, broadly categorized into five major distinctions, but really holding individual qualities that made one completely unique. No two people were exactly the same. They had grown up with that philosophy, and they believed in it with their heart and soul.

He was sand. There was really no other way to describe him. People might wear their tongues out coming up with new adjectives to describe him – cold, bloodthirsty, kind, trustworthy, evil – but nothing, no simple word, could describe him as sand. He was sand, and sand was him. They were one, and together.

It was this very sand that blew uneasily around his feet today as he was to leave it. He could feel the fright of the earth, the unwillingness to give up a part of itself, no matter for how short a time. The uneasiness of his element was mirrored in Gaara himself – he, too, was averse to the idea of leaving his strength and soul. However, what must be done, has to be done, and besides, he had an obligation which he had to fulfill. It was the way of the shinobi to honour all their promises, and nobody understood that better than the sand.

"Soon, old friend," he muttered, his voice so low that none but the recipient could hear the words that he uttered, partially for his lifelong companion and partly to reassure himself. "I will be back soon, with my duties and obligations fulfilled. But, as for now, I must ensure your safety. No blood shall be spilt on your hallowed surface."

His silent communication with the only constant in his ever-changing life was interrupted by the sound of a footstep from behind. Gaara immediately stiffened, and a part of him – the part that was attuned to years of murder and genocide, to killing innocent people and being wary of everything around him, because otherwise he himself could die – immediately flashed several scenarios as to how to respond to that innocuous sound. Bloodlust clawed at his chest, long since accustomed to being granted its every wish, begging for release and fulfillment of its objective.

He quelled the tremor with a great deal of difficulty. He had changed since before – he may still be bound inextricably to the sand, but he was in no way in the presence of Shukaku. The few habits and paths that Shukaku had left behind him were rapidly being changed, forced to fit the viewpoint of a normal human. He was no longer a puppet of the bloodthirsty beast, and although his body was still accustomed to responding in the way that Shukaku deemed fit, he was slowly overcoming that handicap, trying to change his body to respond in the ways that a normal person would react in. It was with great difficulty, therefore, that he managed to control himself and not send a Sand Coffin flying at the intruder.

It was well that he did so, for the 'intruder' turned out to be no other than his own brother, Kankurou. He felt a momentary flash or irritation towards his sibling for his single-mindedness and complete and utter disregard towards other people's activities, but then again, Kankurou had never been one to understand the close relationship that an individual shared with his element. He had been dazzled by elements of fantasy and art, foregoing his natural choice to utilize one that he found more suitable for his nature.

Flighty was not how Kankurou appeared at this moment, however. If anything, anxious would be the way to describe his current state of mind. His painted face was drawn into thin lines of worry and tension, and he seemed determined to make a point in a discussion with Gaara.

Gaara internally sighed, knowing that his elder brother would not be satisfied until all his questions were answered. It was one of the reasons that the Council preferred to proceed through their decisions without him. They wanted an easy path through which they were able to carry out their own deeds and objectives, without giving a complete explanation to anyone besides themselves. Most of the time, they meant well, but sometimes their high-handedness caused a rift within themselves and the other villages, and threatened the unity of the fragile alliance in the Land of the Wind that was headed by the Sand.

Being the direct descendent of a long line of Kazekage, the traditional rulers of Sunagakure that descended by hierarchy, Kankurou was more than qualified to immediately declare himself an elder, and supervise senior departments within the system. If he wanted, he could also challenge Gaara's claim to the seat of the Kazekage – however, the Constitution that was drawn up at the birth of the Village clearly stated that only the strongest, most competent male heir of the original Kazekage was eligible for the honour of being declared the leader of the Sand Village and the Wind Alliance. Although elder by birth, Kankurou was by no means stronger than his volatile younger brother, and thus had gracefully refused the position offered to him. He did occasionally supplement as Acting Kazekage whenever Gaara was incapable of performing his duties, but such incidents were few and far between. The brother of the leader, therefore, mostly utilized his abilities to serve his country by acting as an active shinobi, despite reservations and protests from family and the council.

Kankurou did not tend to meddle in the decisions of the council. He believed that his brother was not a pushover who would allow any malicious acts to be passed which would hurt his country. He believed in his former sensei, Baki, to guide his brother through the intricate passages of politics in which lay the underbelly of his country. However the decision that the Council had made this time was not only dubious, it was downright shady. As a citizen of Suna, he felt obliged to question whether this course of action was really the best to take.

"Brother," Gaara said in a monotone, acknowledging his younger brother. He steeled himself for the tough questions that Kankurou, as a citizen of Suna, was no doubt entitled to ask. The Kazekage worked for the benefit of the people, and the people deserved to know the actions and meanings of their country's leaders. It was a duty that he did his best to embrace and honour.

Kankurou was formal, as befitting someone who was, however unofficially, demanding for a release of information from a high-ranked government official. "Kazekage-sama," he started in a tone befitting his statement. "As a righteous and blood-authoritative Council member, I request to question the moral and literal sensibilities of the pact that we are entering into."

Gaara mentally sighed. Even though he knew that these questions would arise, he still felt a sort of mournfulness for the fact that he would be asked them again and again. Turning around to look at the vast expanse of the desert, he silently gestured for Kankurou to continue.

Taking courage at this meager sign of encouragement, Kankurou continued more passionately. "Gaara, what you're doing, it could destroy the entire village! You have no idea what the implications of this kind of arrangement can be –"

"Kankurou," Gaara interrupted in a bland, bored voice. He had anticipated this. "I assure you that the Council and I have weighed the pros and cons of the situation very carefully, and found this to be the best route to take during the present situation."

"Really? Because it looks like me like you haven't thought this through at all!" Kankurou shouted, losing his patience and his temper. His face was turning an alarming shade of red. "You know what happened to the Star. You know that if we submit to them then we can never get out. Konoha is a fine ally, I'll admit that. It comes to your rescue, and it sends aid. But it is not a fine master to submit to, Gaara. We are Suna, the leader of the deserts. We lead the Wind Alliance, Gaara. We are weak enough as it is – don't you think that we will appear even weaker if we submit to another country right now?"

"I admit that we are weak as of now. I admit that we needed assistance. But that's all we need – assistance. Our shinobi are perfectly capable of defending our walls. If only Konoha would send some more aid, we would be able to hold our own. There is no reason for us to submit to their demands. If we do that, if we really become a protected state under Konohagakure, then not only will we lose all respect from the rest of the five great states, even our subordinates would be hard-pressed to obey us."

And do you have any idea of the financial implications? Konoha may appear all nice and dandy at first, but they are wolves disguised in sheepskin. The sheer amount of gold and textiles they will ask for will be astounding – they will ruin our economy! And when they have financially crippled us, we will be at even more danger, not only from outsiders, but from complete bankruptcy. Then they will offer us financial assistance. We will have no choice but to accept. When we try to get out of this arrangement, they will claim considerable financial reimbursement, which they know we will not be able to provide. Having no choice, we will either never be able to terminate the arrangement, or we will have to go to war with them. The broken spirits of our people and our financially crippled economy will make the war difficult to win, especially against their large coffers, and thus, we will lose, and they will colonize us!"

"Kankurou!" Gaara reprimanded sharply. His brother was going into hysterics, his imagination spiraling out of control, and for an action-first-ask-questions-later type of person like Kankurou, that was never a good thing. "Compose yourself first, and then express your views. If you are unable to do so, then send somebody else to ask your questions."

"It is true that the current policy has many reservations," he continued, his voice becoming somewhat softer. "We will be basically offering ourselves as prisoners to Konoha. However, you have to understand that at this point in our nation's affairs, we have absolutely no other option. We are physically very weak. The surprise attack by the unknown shinobi upon our village has greatly decimated its defense. A few good shinobi remain, but we are no match for another attack. Konoha has provided great assistance during these trying months. Most of our medical and rebuilding aid has come from their side. But even Konoha cannot afford to send their shinobi here permanently. There has been a rumour flying around recently that Konoha fears another attack by the Sound. They have withdrawn nearly all of their shinobi back into their ranks, bracing for another attack. The one five years ago was very harmful to them, and they cannot risk another loss like that."

"Konoha is, at this point of time, the strongest shinobi village. Akatsuki may have the strongest fighters, but they cannot be called a village. They are an organization. The Sound calls itself a village, but without a Grass and Lightning alliance, they will not be able to stand up against the combined strength of the Leaf and the Mist. Moreover, the Sound fears Akatsuki – for some reason, they are enemies."

"A few months ago, we too may have been counted in the ranks of one of the greatest shinobi villages. But no more. We have suffered too many losses to be truly counted among those ranks anymore. Even the Wind Alliance fears our demise."

"There are six shinobi villages, as you know. Most of the other countries have shinobi, but they do not base most of their activities upon these ninjas, and prefer to form alliances with other villages to defend themselves. The Wind Alliance is an example of that – the many smaller shinobi nations in the Land of the Wind are under Suna's protection. The Sand itself used to be one of the six mighty shinobi villages, along with the Leaf, the Grass, the Sound, the Mist, and the Lightning. The Sound is a rogue village, headed by Orochimaru, a missing-nin from Konoha. He has openly declared war on Konoha. Five years ago, with assistance from the Sand, he attacked Konoha, only to be repulsed, but at a great cost – Konoha lost its Third Hokage, Sarutobi-san. After the war, Konoha drew an alliance with Suna, forming a mutually inclusive bond. Konoha is also in a pact with the Mist village."

"It is the Grass and the Lightning that are the other worries. The two other villages have been fairly unresponsive towards us and the Mist, but are rather frosty towards the Leaf. They refuse to draw up an alliance with us as long as we are in the pact with Konoha, and seem to have unstable connections with the Sound. We cannot afford to break out of the treaty with Konoha without declaring war, and even so, the Council does not trust either the Grass, or the Lightning. The Mist has proven openly hostile towards us. In short, we have no friends but Konoha."

"We must enter into a supportive alliance with Konoha to survive. We are weak and fragile, not to mention at constant threat. We dare trust no on apart from them. They have performed all the activities that were required of them according to the current treaty. You do not understand, Kankurou – if we don't enter this, then we will die."

"Yes, I understand that Konoha will impose great financial dues on us. Yes, I understand that they will monopolize our trade. Yes, I understand that this exact situation took place before with the Star. But the Star is not a Great Village, Kankurou. The Star is a mediocre village that took the protection of one of the Great shinobi Villages, but we are not as defenseless as they are. They knew what they were getting into, and they also knew that if they did not pay their dues, then Konoha would abandon them to the elements and their enemies. But Konoha cannot do the same to us. We are much stronger than the Star Village, even in our weakened state. Besides, Konoha understands very well that if they impose harsh penalties on us, then we will have no choice but to seek assistance from either the Grass or the Lightning, which will be detrimental to their foreign relations. Konoha will play it safe with us – they are no fools."

Kankurou sighed, clearly unhappy with the outcome of their situation. He was no particular fan of Konoha, and the fact that he had to bow to them just made his hatred that much stronger. However, he was an intelligent man, and understood his brother's logic. He would always campaign and search for a solution from this predicament that his Village found itself in, but he knew that for the time being, this was the only way that his bowed village could truly take the steps needed for its rehabilitation.

"I understand," he said, somewhat sulkily. "But will Konoha be hospitable enough to receive us? If they truly are in a state of emergency like you said, then won't they be suspicious of any outsiders, especially anybody from the Sand?"

Gaara reverted his gaze back the vast reaches of the desert. On the very horizon, he could see a fuzzy dark line, which he knew to be trees. The trees that marked the beginning of the Land of Fire. "Konoha trusts us. Arrangements for our stay have already been made."

"So where will we be staying? The Hokage's guest rooms? Those places are shit," Kankurou stated flatly, remembering the less-than-stellar commodities provided in the government-funded rooms.

Gaara shook his head. "The Hokage has arranged for us to be staying with one of their Great Clans. We'll be residing with Hiashi Hyuuga."

Something was very wrong.

It was a vague inclination, a meaningless thought that had first occurred when the entire contingent from Suna had returned so unexpectedly, but now it was almost confirmed. The Hokage was calling all the shinobi home, and was fortifying the village on top of that. She didn't understand what was happening, but she knew for sure that something was up. The village was on high alert, and was failing miserably in trying to keep it concealed.

Her team's patrol's had been increased nearly fourfold, and Kiba and Shino had stopped going on any missions. Now all they had was guard duty. Hinata, being a medic, was not needed for the watch, but the patrols, combined with her training, were making sleep a difficult commodity to come by nowadays.

And here it was. The cherry on the top. The fact that confirmed all her suspicions.

"Why do you have to go on an S-Rank mission now?" The sentence was said in an almost suspicious tone, poorly disguised as nonchalant.

Itachi looked impassive, but she could see a steady tick in his jaw. Having been in his company so often for the past few weeks, she was learning to recognize the little signs of emotion that betrayed his inner state of mind.

"An S-Rank can come up at any time. It is the duty of a shinobi to uphold his traditions."

He was forbidden to say anything. All ANBU personnel were. Only they knew of the true nature of the alert, and were forbidden from revealing it to anybody else, not even another shinobi. As for genin, chuunin, jounin, and ROOT – well, they were still in the dark. Hinata often wondered if they were waiting for something to happen before they revealed the threat to the rest of the shinobi ranks.

"Forgive me, Itachi-san. I must have seemed impetuous. It's just that you have barely returned from an S-Rank, and now you are returning to another. The ANBU law states that a shinobi must have at least a fortnight of rest before he embarks on another B+ level mission, but you have been here for scarcely a week."

Being the heiress of a wealthy and prominent clan, Hinata was expected to keep up to date with all the current affairs and laws. The ANBU law that she mentioned was one that she had first read when she was nine years old, and one that she frequently heard mentioned by the few members of ANBU she knew. Everyone seemed very thankful for it.

Itachi was impassive as always. She had not even managed to stir him. "In some special cases, the ANBU law has to be foregone in order to maintain security."

Bingo! He had fallen right into the trap. "So is it a special case, now? Is there something up that makes it necessary for even ANBU personnel to be tired out and reused? Something that the rest of the village knows nothing about?"

Itachi raised a fine eyebrow at the sudden barrage of questions. She blushed, feeling blood beginning to warm her cheeks, and her heart beginning to thump erratically. This had been happening every time he smiled or made some other gesture towards her. It was almost like being around Naruto again, but it couldn't possibly be that, could it?

No, of course not! Itachi was her fiancé. She was probably blushing because she was afraid of having asked too much. Or maybe because it really was very warm today. It always seemed to be very warm when she was in the same place as him.

For some reason, she couldn't help but noticing his attire today. She blushed, her eyes straying from his pronounced collarbones to his well-defined chest, visible beneath his form-fitting ANBU fishnet. She could deny that he really was very well-made. His shoulders were muscular, but not like a weightlifters – they had a lean, leonine beauty to them. He had a lean, leonine beauty to him. She knew that she wasn't the first to think so – he had an enormous fanclub in this village, rivaled only by his brother's.

He dipped his head just a little, taking a sip of his chamomile tea. They were sitting out in a café, under an umbrella, as Hinata had impetuously announced that it was too sunny and bright to be sitting inside. Gone were the days of non-communication and formality. They were both dressed in casual clothes, him in his ANBU shirt and shinobi pants, and her in her medic's outfit. He seemed to be pondering ways to change the topic of conversation, but while she would usually have been slightly sulky at this evasion, she couldn't mind today, not when the sun was glittering on his dark, silky hair, highlighting the strong lines in his face, his fantastic cheekbones, his jawline, and that perfect, toned body hidden beneath that black shirt…

No! Stop! This was Itachi she was talking about. Itachi who just so happened to be her fiancé.

Exactly. Her fiancé. Not her brother, or her cousin, or any relative of hers. Not her friend's boyfriend. He was her fiancé, which, by the definition given in the Dignified Scholar's Dictionary, meant that he was engaged to be married to her. Her. Not anybody else. He was off-limits to everybody else. She should have full rights to ogle him if she wanted.

Wait a minute. Ogle? She wasn't ogling him. She couldn't ogle him, rather, because Hinata Hyuuga couldn't ogle. Hinata Hyuuga could blush, she could faint, squeak, stutter, and do a million other embarrassing things, but she could not ogle. Therefore, by the rule of all that's Right and Proper in this world, shy, virginal Hinata Hyuuga could not be ogling her handsome, oblivious fiancé, Itachi Uchiha.

He looked up suddenly, his dark eyes probing into hers, and she felt her heart start doing overtime. Honestly, what was the matter with it? She was going to have a heart-attack soon, at this rate. She was also acutely embarrassed with the idea that somehow, with his superhuman shinobi hearing, he could discern the faster pace of her heart, and was laughing at her inside.

But why should he laugh? Her heart beating fast had nothing to do with him, after all. It was all because of the heat. The heat was the problem, after all. She should have asked to go inside.

The lie sounded feeble even to her own mental ears. Medic she was, she knew that just sitting outside sipping cool tea under an umbrella on a warm day was not enough to get your heart to beat fast. But she was in denial, and like all persons in denial, she came up with the first and most viable excuse that occurred to her. Besides, it sounded better to say that her heart was beating faster because of the sun than because of a hidden toxin in the chamomile tea. And definitely better than saying it was because his dark eyes had a little bit of concern and care in them right now. Oh god, those onyx orbs were to die for. No wonder every female in the village fell for Uchiha men.

And she was blabbering again. She saw his mouth form words that were spoken to her, but her fascination with the perfection of his mouth moving so, well, perfectly, was so great that she could not discern that simple fact. She only realised that he had spoken to her when her internal 'lets-die-of-embarrassment-now' clock informed her that she had been staring at him for a good five minutes.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she said, blushing profusely at having been caught staring and startling herself out of her weird fascination.

He looked concerned now, and leaned forward to rest one hand on her forehead. She startled at the sudden contact, turning even redder.

"You look warm, Hinata. Are you sure, you're feeling alright?" Her experienced ears caught an undercurrent of worry in his voice.

"I'm quite all right! Very much so!" She sounded like Naruto, only on caffeine. Her only saving grace was that she didn't stutter.

Itachi frowned, clearly not convinced, but before he could say anything, she quickly changed the subject to the delicious mango and peach splice found at this café.

They were just about to order the aforementioned peach and mango splice when a messenger arrived for Itachi, demanding his presence at the Hokage's office immediately. Hinata watched him go with a sinking heart, knowing that he may be sent on another mission, and that she may not see him for weeks on end now. Because, if serving no other purpose than making her appear even more of a fool than she was, these meetings actually did make her realize one thing…

She liked being with Uchiha Itachi.

And that, folks, will be it.

I'll try to update soon, but no guarantees. Reviews inspire me, and make me want to write more. *Insert grin*

Any and all questions/queries will be answered in reviews or PM's, so feel free to ask away.

I hope you liked it.

~conorlover~