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 Four

From the stories of his exploits, Shizuka was expecting someone large and burly and uncouth. Someone wild-looking and savage. Someone clearly capable of tremendous and vicious acts of violence. Perhaps she had even expected someone older, though she knew that they were the same age. What she had not expected was someone calm and composed, if perhaps a bit stern. Someone slender and not so very tall. Someone with messy red hair and sleep-deprived rings around his eyes. Most certainly, in all of her wildest imaginings and all of her hazy thoughts about her future husband, the one thing she had not expected to find when Temari formally introduced her to the kazekage was the blunt young man she had spoken to last night.

Spoken…to…

Oh, kami. What had she done? The things she had said. To the kazekage, no less! It was mortifying. Why had she said those things to him? He had caught her off guard, to be sure, but was that really an excuse? He had been so terribly blunt, almost to the point of being rude, asking things that had nothing to do with him. Or at least, they had appeared to have nothing to do with him at the time. It was not normal for anyone to answer such personal questions to a complete stranger, yet she had.

Perhaps it was because she had felt so lonely and upset after dinner? Her interrogation had hardly been a soothing or welcoming event. By the time it was over, she had been in desperate need of a confidant to speak plainly to, or, failing that, at least a little peace and solitude to get herself under control. Instead she had found a man. A man who, despite his direct approach and taciturn manner, had also seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. A man who had seemed almost…gentle? No. It only made sense for him to be interested in her response, given who he turned out to be. But gentle? The thought was too absurd to harbor. In fact, that whole encounter was awfully underhanded of him. Indignation sprang up in her. He knew who she was, but she had no idea who he was. That was hardly fair. Oh, that was very sly of him, indeed. It was also something she would not soon forget.

Shizuka smoothed her fan and made certain her expression was as politely blank as possible before she spoke.

"It is an honor to properly make your acquaintance. I apologize for burdening you with my thoughts last night. I did not realize who you were."

Had a little of her ire leaked into her voice just then? Oh, well. He already knew some of her deeper feelings. What was a little more on top of that? Besides, he deserved it, deceiving her like that. Maybe it was the shinobi way of doing things, but that did not mean she had to put up with it. She would have honesty, or nothing at all. It never occurred to her that he might not have deceived her on purpose. Not that she was thinking too hard about it. Easier to be angry than to be nervous, especially if her anger felt justified.

"I would not have asked if I did not want to know," Gaara replied with a slight frown.

"Nonetheless," she demurred, barely refraining from glaring at him. "It was not very appropriate of me."

"Would it have been more appropriate to discuss those things with a stranger?"

Now, she did glare. Was he mocking her? She had thought he was a stranger. In every real sense of the word, he still was, even though he would not be forever. More importantly, did he have no concept of propriety in these situations? There were rules! There were customs! She was not supposed to be meeting him in the middle of the night and pouring her heart out to him! It just did not work that way. Never mind that she had never actually been in such a situation before. Shizuka was certain that she had the right of it. It just wasn't… proper.

However, oblivious to her inner tirade, Gaara was still waiting for an answer. Shizuka eventually realized this. The infuriating little… she huffed in annoyance. What could she really say to that, anyway? She absolutely refused to admit that he had a point.

"We had not been properly introduced. There are customs," she said, which of course was not a real answer at all.

"I am not aware of any such customs. You will have to inform me of them," he replied, which of course would be completely against the unwritten and unspoken rules that Shizuka was investing so much of her argument in.

"Perhaps another time," she said stiffly. "Temari has promised to show me the village." Barely waiting for Gaara's nod, Shizuka bowed and stalked out of the office, leaving the mostly forgotten Temari behind.

I~I~I

"She seemed… upset." Gaara observed with a frown.

"I think you caught her off guard, Gaara," Temari replied. It had taken all of her willpower to keep from laughing aloud at the confrontation, er, introduction that had just taken place. In fact, she was doing her best to refrain from giving in now. What made it all the more entertaining was the fact that she knew Gaara had been perfectly earnest, but the little princess had only gotten angrier and angrier. Looks like Kankuro was right: she did have a temper, after all. Maybe keeping an eye on Shizuka wouldn't be so bad, after all. Not if things were going to be this entertaining all the time.

"I doubt she knows what to make of you." She eyed her youngest brother curiously. "Just what did you talk about last night and why didn't she know who you were until now?"

"We spoke of why she was here…" he trailed off, and seemed to come to a realization of some sort.

Temari narrowed her eyes when he did not elaborate. "And?"

"I never told her my name."

"No wonder she was so annoyed. She probably thought you were leading her on or something."

"She never asked."

Temari rolled her eyes at him. "It's considered polite to introduce yourself. You should know that much by now. She probably didn't want to be rude."

He made a noncommittal noise.

"I'd better catch her before she gets lost in this rat-maze," she said and started toward the door. She paused to give Gaara a lopsided smile. "Don't worry about it too much. She's probably just nervous. New village. New country. New people. New customs. New fiancé. She'll get over it."

I~I~I

Shizuka had nearly reached the entranceway before her anger had receded enough for the significance of the encounter to sink in. She stopped, leaned against the wall, and stared wide-eyed at the floor.

"Did I just… try to pick a fight with the kazekage?"

Temari, who had just caught up to the shorter woman, had to work very hard to school her expression, a recurring theme. Even then she could not keep the laughter out of her voice. "Yes, I believe you did."

Yes. She did. Oh, kami. Even her words, proper though they were, had been belligerent. Mother would be so disappointed. Kiyoko would have laughed, as Temari clearly wanted to. Shizuka could feel nothing beyond her sudden dismay. How could she try to pick a fight with the kazekage? Why would she try to pick a fight with him? She was here on a diplomatic mission… to marry him. She was here as a representative of her family, of her people. She was not here to act childish and petty. Arguing with him would be counter-productive… even if he deserved it by being a rude, deceptive, manipulative–

"Did that have anything to do with your… conversation last night?"

Shizuka's head jerked up and she faced Temari with a crimson blush painting her face.

"I didn't know who he was!" she protested, completely missing the nuances of Temari's teasing. "I just wanted somewhere quiet to go where I could see the stars, and he was there, and he asked all these blunt questions and he just let me talk and make a fool of myself." Suddenly realizing she was babbling, Shizuka shut her mouth and returned her forlorn gaze to the floor.

"Sounds like it couldn't have been too bad. Is having a decent conversation with your fiancé really such a bad thing?"

"It is when I did not know who he was," she replied mutinously. Mother would be very disappointed, indeed. It was time to act like a civilized individual again. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to regain her composure.

"Don't do that," Temari said after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"That," she said pointedly. "You can be polite and distant to strangers, but I know better, now. I want to talk to the real person, not the noblewoman. We're going to be sisters, someday. I think we can move past the formality. Besides, Shizuka the woman seems more interesting than Shizuka the princess."

The princess in question frowned, not entirely sure what the older woman meant, but at the same time, knowing just what she meant. Did she not wear a social mask every time she was in court? Every time she was introduced to another aristocrat? Every time she was summoned by her father? Yes. She knew exactly what Temari meant. But at the same time, did she really want to be so open up so much to Temari?

It was true that their first meeting left her with little hope for a good relationship between them. It was also true that Temari had done little to keep her brother from attacking her at dinner. They had both maintained a distant civility toward each other until just now, in fact. Was that all it took for Temari to take an interest in her? Just a social crisis and some embarrassment on Shizuka's part? Or was it her little tirade that had done the trick? Whatever it was, perhaps she should just be grateful and see where a closer acquaintance would lead. Still…

"You have not been any more open."

"What do you call this? I'm willing to try if you are, though I warn you. Gaara isn't the only blunt one in the family, and I do it on purpose."

Implying that he is not blunt on purpose? Shizuka was not certain she believed that, but she let it go for the time being in favor of a tentative smile.

"Actually, it's kind of nice sometimes," she said. "Being straightforward instead of playing social games." Of course, she would still have to be careful for a while, at least until she knew Temari a little better. She did not want to offend her or say anything that could cause problems. But maybe, someday, she could be a true friend.

"Be careful what you ask for," Temari warned, smirking. "You just might get too much of it." Shizuka merely gave her a wry smile. How well she knew this.

"You went to the roof, didn't you?" Temari asked after a long moment. At Shizuka's nod, she casually added, "He spends a lot of time up there, when he's not in his office."

"Now I know where not to go," she grumbled, scowling. Great. Just what she wanted to hear. Now where was she going to go to see the stars?

Temari laughed. "Come on," she said. "Can't stand here all day. You have a village to see."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Ok. Clearly there has been too much manga in my life recently. I feel like that last scene was straight out of a shoujo "girls-bonding" chapter. "I like you for who you are!" "I like you for who you are, too!" Gag me with a spoon. XD Oh, well. Can't win 'em all. On the other hand, I'm pretty pleased with the first scene. It's fun to get into Shizuka's mind. From the outside, she looks all cool and reserved, but really she's just a spaz with a good poker face. Temari, of course, always amuses me. She's turning out to be surprisingly manipulative.

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