The two older siblings were staring at him in shock. "What do you mean she's here? I thought you said you killed her!"
"I didn't say I killed her Kankurou, I said I left her to die in the desert."
"Well I'm sorry for misunderstanding you, I was somehow under the impression that you kill those who try to assassinate you."
And just when one of the brothers (Kankurou) was about to go down in flames (sand), Temari decided to butt in. "Calm down you two. What's done, it's done... or not done in this case." Gaara shot her a glare, but she continued. "It's pointless to lose your temper over it, especially since you probably won't see her again after we're back to Suna." When they both just stood there in silence, she finally added. "The first meeting starts in 20 minutes, so we better get ready." Then she opened the door and pulled Kankurou out with her, leaving Gaara alone with his thoughts. Damn Kankurou and his big mouth. I failed to end her life, so what? Anyone can make a mistake. There was no time, I had to act quickly to protect my village and she was simply too irrelevant to waste any time on... He glanced at the clock. I better get ready for that meeting.
Akane was sitting on her temporary bed, staring at the wall. A knock on the door was heard. "Akane, the meeting starts in 15 minutes, be ready in 10!" It was Shizune. Apparently, it wasn't just Tsunade's obligation to attend the meetings, they all had to be there and get bored to death. But Akane was to preoccupied with her real problems to worry about something as insignificant as boredom. Yes, she was thinking about the fact that she'll be trapped in the same room with the Kazekage - for hours! Of course, while she was wholeheartedly re-thinking her "head-for-the-hills" idea, she failed to realize that there will be at least a dozen people in there with them.
"Akane I know you didn't even begin to get ready, so I'll just say that you've got 5 minutes before Tsunade-sama beats the hell out of you for being late... again." This time it was Shikamaru. After hearing silence for an answer he sighed and left. That woman is so troublesome...
She let out a sigh. It felt like she was waking up from a trance. Pull yourself together Akane! She yelled at herself in her mind while banging her fists onto her head. So he's here, and he wants to kill you. Won't be the first or the last one to try. If he thinks that I'm just gonna stand still and stare at him while he kills me, he's got another thing coming! She jumped from the bed like it was on fire and ran into the bathroom to get ready.
Five minutes later, they were walking inside the meeting's room behind Tsunade. The other kages and their escorts/advisers were already there. Akane quickly scanned the room. It was very big with an enormous round table in the middle. Chairs were placed around it, with people already occupying them, except for the five that were closest to her. They sat with Tsunade in the middle, Shikamaru and Shizune on her left and right, Akane next to Shikamaru and Sakura to Shizune.
The Raikage stood up and spoke. "Since we're all here, this meeting can start." After that he sat down, and the kages started talking one after another, discussing issues among themselves. Akane was just pretending to listen, since it wasn't any of her business. Her eyes absently went to the red-head on her left. He was talking now, while keeping his arms crossed. She looked at the two next to him. The blond woman caught her gaze a moment before Akane turned her head and began staring at the spot above the Mizukage's head like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Temari decided to confirm her suspicions. "Gaara, she's the black haired girl on our right, isn't she?"
"How did you guess?" His voice was a whisper, but she heard it. "She was looking at you a few minutes ago, so I just figured."
"What makes you think she didn't stare at him because of something else?" Kankurou couldn't resist getting into the conversation without a smart-ass comment. "Is that all you think about?" Temari scolded him with a hush tone.
Kankurou smirked at her. "What? That was nothing, just hear my next one."
"Be quiet, both of you. Nobody needs to hear that." Gaara was already losing his patience, it was clear in his voice. But Kankurou said it anyway. "Listen Gaara, how about you let me have some fun with the raven-head over there before you kill her?" Then he winked suggestively.
"Kankurou, say that one more time and I swear I'll kill you instead." The other two went silent after that, just count on Gaara to kill a conversation.
When Akane decided that she stared at that spot long enough, she turned her eyes back at Gaara just to be met by his unreadable gaze. Oh no! Don't panic! He's just staring at you, and stares can't kill. Well, unless you're an Uchiha... Our eyes can do more than just stare. Akane smirked with pride inside of her head. That's it! I'll just use my clan's trademark ability! With that thought her eyes became blank as she successfully put on her you-can't-touch-me-cause-I'm-better-than-you face. Guess being Sasuke's sibling has it's good sides.
Several hours later, the meeting was finally over. Akane and Shizune were walking out of the room, while pulling Tsunade with them. Shikamaru and Sakura walked out behind them, followed by other kages. Tsunade and the Tsuchikage were yelling at each other on top of their lungs while being dragged by their escorts. What was that dumb-ass thinking anyway, calling Tsunade a drunk and gambler? We all know that, but no one in their right state of mind would tell her that in her face! He should be thankful I even bothered to grab her, or he wouldn't have a mouth (or a head for that matter) to yell with right now. Her further thoughts were interrupted by Shizune. "Good work in there Akane. Beating up another leader wouldn't do any good for us here. I just hope Tsunade-sama manages to control herself in the future."
"Yeah... Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be alright, everyone snaps every now and then."
"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm not here and let go? I can walk by myself!" Although they were still concerned about Tsunade running back to kill the Tsuchikage, they let go. Better him than them.
The moment later, the Kazekage caught up to them. "Hokage-sama, I have a certain preposition for you, and if you're interested in hearing it I would like us to meet later today to discuss the matter." He said while walking next to her.
"Of course Kazekage-sama. When and where?" Tsunade said with a polite smile while looking at the young man next to her.
Faking or hiding emotions is one thing but this is something else. How can she change her mood so quickly is beyond me... Akane sighed louder than expected. She glanced around to make sure no one noticed, but turned her head to look at a random direction after seeing Kankurou smirk at her. Something in that guy's look is so wrong. She saw him coming closer to her until they were almost touching. She quickly moved away. Now I know there's something wrong. Unfortunately for Kankurou, he ignored her get-away-or-I'll-hit-you signs and ended up in nearby wall. "If you ever touch my butt or any other part of me again, I'll kill you! You got that?" After realizing that he's unconscious and there for couldn't answer if his life depended on it (which it did) she remembered that they weren't alone. Oh shit. I didn't just send one of sand ninja into the wall, did I? Well then... What's done is done, I'm not gonna beat myself up for it, it's his fault anyway. She turned around to face two very surprised kages. Tsunade simply stared at her with her eyes wide. Since she didn't expect the old woman to show any signs of mental activity any time soon, she turned her gaze at Gaara. Unlike Tsunade's case, what she saw there completely caught her of guard. He was smirking, obviously very amused. "Temari wake Kankurou up. There's no way anyone here is going to carry him."
"Yeah, especially since that dead brain of his probably weights a tone all by itself." Did I just say that out loud? And the biggest idiot award goes to the dumb girl in the center of attention! Just when she was about to sink into the ground in attempt to hide, she felt someone pull her by the arm and take her through the hallway, leaving everyone else behind. "I think you humiliated yourself enough for one day, of course I could be wrong." She smiled at him. "Thanks for the save Shikamaru."
"Hey, what are friends for anyway? Besides, I can't remember the last time I got to see you knocking out a guy for touching you, since there's nobody in Konoha who has the guts to do it."
"I know... I really missed the feeling." She stated while staring at the sky. "You woman, have one sick mind, you know that?"
"Yeah, and you love me for it!" She started laughing after seeing his expression. "Relax, I was just kidding!"
They went inside the hotel while Shikamaru muttered something that incredibly sounded like "Troublesome woman."