Summary: Gaara knows only of duty to his village. Shizuka knows only of duty to her people. When she is sent to Suna, both of them are forced to see that there is more to life than they had imagined. They must learn to live.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the recognizable characters or places or things that you see in this story. I do, however, own Shizuka, her kingdom, and this particular plot-line.

Chapter One

Temari reclined under the meager shade of a tree, fanning herself and trying to avoid the summer heat. Really, she loved her village, but the weather left something to be desired. Not that she would ever admit it out loud. Still, there was a lot to be said for a place like Konoha: lush trees, rain, snow, quiet afternoons cloud-gazing with a certain lazy shinobi. She smirked. Of course, any time spent with that particular lazy shinobi was bound to be entertaining.

A few shouts and a gathering crowd interrupted her thoughts. She scowled and got up to see what all the fuss was about. Recognizing her, the villagers parted so she could get a good view of the main road. A small train of carts was slowly coming through the gates. This was not unusual and should not have caused any stir. After all, under Gaara's leadership, Suna's economy was thriving, trade was abundant and caravans were quite common. However, this caravan was clearly foreign and of much better quality than those manned by the usual merchants.

With a frown, Temari racked her brain, trying to remember if there were any foreign dignitaries that were supposed to be visiting, but for the life of her, she could not think of any. At least, none that were not due for another week or more. As the group crawled slowly closer, she realized that she was not even certain what country they belonged to. Still, she had a nagging suspicion that she was supposed to know about this procession. What was it? She was still trying to figure it out when the only carriage in the group drew even with her. Inside sat a dainty young woman, clearly nobility, perhaps a few years younger than Temari herself.

The shinobi gave a guilty start and glanced between the young woman and the carts. She suddenly had a bad feeling that she knew exactly who this was. The make of the gear, the clothing, even the physical appearance of the people all pointed to a country much greener than Suna. Say, a distant mountain country that they had been looking into forming an alliance with years ago. Even the timing was right: Gaara had turned eighteen a few months ago. Unless she was very mistaken, this was Gaara's fiancé. Whom Gaara did not know about. Whom they were not at all prepared to receive. Actually, Temari was surprised that their father had not broken off the arrangement, given his less-than-paternal feelings toward her youngest brother and, to be perfectly honest, Gaara's less-than-stable state for several years. She scowled; maybe he had forgotten about it. How troublesome. If she had even suspected that the arrangement was still in effect, she would have informed her brother of it long ago. But that was neither here nor there.

She tore her eyes away from the carriage that was suddenly moving far too quickly for her liking toward the main building and took to the rooftops, determined to find Kankuro immediately. Or perhaps the elders. Yes, they would do. Everyone knew the elders liked to keep things quiet until it suited them to let anyone else in on their plots. In fact, Temari would be willing to bet that they knew the marriage had never been broken off. Even better. One thing was for sure: she was not going to be the only one to break the news to Gaara. Suicide was not in her plans. She had far too many ideas left untried on her lazy lover to die yet.

I~I~I

The desert sun beat down on Suna, harsh and oppressive as ever, even at this early morning hour, but Gaara hardly noticed. He was too busy working through the seemingly never-ending ocean of paperwork that came hand-in-hand with being kazekage. He did not really mind it himself, but he did have to wonder how the energetic and impatient Naruto managed in Konoha, for he was certain that the hokage's mountain of paperwork was no smaller that Gaara's own. He was going over the week's reports from border patrol when a knock sound at the door. He considered being annoyed at the interruption, but decided to enjoy the break instead, however temporary it may be. After all, even he could not stay buried in paper all day.

"Enter," he called, his quiet voice nonetheless penetrating the thick door.

The door eased open to reveal an uncharacteristically sheepish Temari and an unusually stiff Kankuro along with a handful of elders. Five minutes and a rather creative and falsely cheerful explanation later, the eldest pair of siblings was waiting for their younger brother to make some sort of response. However, the redheaded kazekage's expression remained as inscrutable as he was silent. Finally, Kankuro had enough waiting.

"Look, you never knew about this," he reasoned. "We can just send her back home."

"And risk offending her country, with which we have been looking to establish positive relations," Temari pointed out.

"So we tell them we want the alliance, but don't need their daughter to make it happen," he argued.

"Kankuro!" exclaimed an elder. "Marriages have been used to bind alliances for centuries. It would be a grave insult to break such a vow, especially after the intended bride has already been sent here."

"Well, what if we make her an ambassador instead…"

Gaara, having been forgotten by everyone in his office, was only half-listening to the argument concerning his future. He was still trying to reconcile with the fact that he had been engaged his entire life and never even known it. Though the young kazekage had come a long way from the angry, violent boy he had once been, he had never really considered love in terms of himself. At least, not since he was a child and his uncle was still alive. Certainly, he had come to care deeply for his siblings and he felt all the protective pride for his village that any kage worth his salt should, but a wife was something different. It was more personal in ways he had never even dreamed of before and he was not at all sure how to feel about it. He knew one thing, though: he did not appreciate having the decision taken from him before he even had a chance to discover for himself how he felt about such things.

He had never paid much attention to them, but he did know of several other relationships. Naruto was engaged to the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. Kankuro was dating one of the jounin. Even his sister had some sort of romantic relationship with the Konoha genius, Shikamaru. He might not know any of the details, but Gaara did know that they all shared one thing: they were all completely voluntary. He frowned slightly. Such thoughts were not useful at the moment. Gaara returned his attention to the argument that had been going on only to find it still in full swing. As he wondered how many headaches Naruto had on a daily basis, Gaara decided that he would rather have been left to his paperwork after all.

I~I~I

In the end, it was decided that turning the unexpected fiancé away would be disastrous, but having the wedding right away would not only be ill advised, but nearly impossible. After all, they had made none of the necessary preparations. Thus, they would have an engagement period. That is, the wedding would be delayed for a while so that the two could get to know one another before they were married, or such was the official explanation. It was not unheard of, and if an alternative to a wedding presented itself in the meantime, so much the better.

So it was that Temari found herself outside the main building, watching the foreign caravan approach. She had been given the dubious honor of greeting the young woman her little brother was supposed to marry.

Another scowl made its way onto her face. Damn elders. They had claimed to have forgotten all about it, but that was clearly a ruse. Nothing made it past them, or at least, nothing like this. Nothing that concerned political relations between countries, especially when it meant they could meddle in the kazekage's life. Kami only knew why they had failed to mention it earlier, though, rather than risk the disaster that would have certainly struck if Temari had not pieced everything together as quickly as she had. Cowards. They probably just didn't want to be the only ones to break the news to Gaara. Or maybe they had feared that he would put a stop to everything if they had given their kazekage a little warning.

With an exasperated huff, she forced the matter from her mind, at least for the moment. The caravan was drawing to a stop and it would not do for her to scare off the would-be bride before she had even set foot on Suna soil. Though she was not yet certain how she felt about this matter, and she strongly suspected that she would not be happy about it for Gaara's sake once she had a chance to stop and think about it, Temari knew her duty. The kunoichi had certainly spent enough time as a liaison between Suna and Konoha to know that politics often required one to be cordial, despite one's personal feelings. So, if she was not beaming when a guard opened the carriage door and helped a delicate little waif out, neither did she look like she was contemplating someone's demise.

I~I~I

Shizuka took a deep, steadying breath when she felt the carriage slow. Ok. She was here. She could do this. No matter that the environment was so alien that even the smells were different. No matter that there had been oddly-dressed people staring at her since the moment she had entered the village, which was really more of a city. No matter that she felt she was liable to expire of heat stroke just sitting there, in the stifling confines of the carriage, or that that very carriage was the only thing standing between her and the great unknown. And of course, it most especially did not matter that as soon as she got out, and the wagons were unloaded, the servants and guards would leave and she would be well and truly abandoned here. It was almost enough to make her beg the driver to turn right back around and bring her home.

Almost.

As it was, she knew that such a thing was not possible. She was Morikami. To do anything other than complete her task would not only bring shame to herself and her family, it could cause an international incident and possibly even cost the lives of her people. Despite her personal feelings, Shizuka knew that there was no other choice but to move forward. So, when one of the guards opened the door and offered her a hand down, she gathered her courage and accepted the offer, abandoning the scant protection of the carriage and seeing what Suna had in store for her.

The mildly annoyed face of the blond woman was not a promising first impression. Still, Shizuka could do little other than hold herself taller and meet the grey-green eyes of the older woman. She had a curious hairstyle, four ponytails sticking out, but perhaps it was a local fashion. Certainly, her attire, though long, was not something that women at home would wear. And what was that giant thing strapped to her back? Perhaps she was one of the shinobi? The odds were high, considering that this was a shinobi village.

At last, the blond woman seemed to remember her duties, for her expression smoothed out and she bowed.

"Welcome to Suna," she said. "I am Temari."

"I am Shizuka," she replied with a bow, relieved that Temari no longer seemed annoyed, even if it was just a façade. This whole ordeal was nerve-wracking enough without adding open hostility to the mix, whatever she had done to deserve it. Of course, Temari might not be angry with her. Maybe she was just having a bad day.

And maybe pigs would fly.

If this was the welcome party, she was not at all sure she wanted to meet anyone else. Kami only knew how many more unhappy faces she would see. Not that it mattered in the least. Even if every last person in this village hated her, she would stay. Duty and honor. It was always duty and honor. Even if she had nothing else, Shizuka could cling to that. Still, she hoped that she could find at least a few allies in this place. Life would be dreadfully dull if she were left to her own devices all of the time. Not to mention lonely.

Shizuka gave herself a mental shake. It did her no good to be jumping to conclusions or dwelling on things she had not control over. She would take this one step at a time. First, she just had to make it through introductions without embarrassing herself. Easy, right? Sure. She could do that. Now, what had Temari been saying while she was lost in her thoughts?

To be continued…

Author's note: I'm afraid that those are the only two chapters I have finished at the moment. I will endeavor to get more ready for you soonest.

Reviews give me inspiration.