Akane practically ran into her room with a wide green on her face. As soon as she closed the door, she began laughing uncontrollably. Ten minutes later, she was lying on the floor with tears in her eyes. The look on his face as priceless! I should definitely do this more often! She sat up with her legs folded in front of her and stared at the door. Anyway, it's time to get serious! I'm gonna keep my cool no matter what he does! She nodded her head approvingly and stood up. I should get ready for bed if I'm going to get up early... Or at least before Kankurou. With that thought she went into the bathroom to take a shower.
A week later, Temari was enjoying another peaceful, sunny day in Konoha. Since there weren't many missions for jounin, Tsunade was mostly giving her days off. So far, she's been on only one mission, which lasted for a couple of days. That, of course, left her a lot of time to get used to the village and meet some of it's residents.
She was walking through the streets, looking around. The last thing she saw before she was forced on the ground was a flash of yellow. And just like many other people who had the fortune of meeting the number one, hyperactive, knucklehead ninja of the Hidden Leaf village, she already knew that she hasn't been ambushed, but was simply standing on the pore blond's escape route. "Naruto, get off me!"
"Ah... Sorry, Temari! I didn't see you!" He smiled apologetically at her while helping her up. Then he turned around and saw something that made him scream like a little girl. "See ya later!" Was all he said before he ran past Temari.
"NARUTO! Get back here and take it like a man!" The moment he ran off, Sakura appeared in front of Temari. She slowed down after noticing the older kunoichi. "Hi Temari-san!" Was all she said before she stormed off in Naruto's direction.
Temari stared after her in confusion. "What did Naruto do this time?"
"I'm not sure, but knowing Naruto, it was probably something stupid." Shikamaru was standing next to her. "Aah! When did you get there?"
He just looked at her lazily. "Are you sure you're a jounin? You should really pay more attention to your surroundings."
That, of course, got him a hit on the head. With an over sized, metal fan. "Jerk." Was all Temari said before she walked off.
"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru slowly stood up with one hand holding his head. "Hey! Wait up!"
She turned on her heals to look at him. "What?"
"I'm supposed to take you to Hokage's office. Apparently, we are going on a mission together." He said while walking closer to her.
"Like I'd ever go anywhere with you." Temari said while turning around. They walked together towards the Hokage tower.
"Troublesome woman..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
At that same time, in Suna, Akane was in the Kazekage's office. The Academy teacher she was replacing had recovered and was now back at his position. Just like Akane had predicted, Gaara couldn't wait for an opportunity to make her lose it again. This time, it wasn't the mission's level, but it's type.
"Your mission is simple but far from easy. You are to lead an escort of Land of the Wind's Feudal Lord and his family on their trip from Suna to their home. Any questions?" Gaara was in his kage robes, sitting at his desk. He held his arms folded on his chest and was looking at Akane expectantly.
"Yes." Why me? "Who is in my team and when do we leave?"
"Kankurou and Matsuri are going with you and you are leaving in an hour."
"Just the three of us? Will that be enough?"
Gaara smirked. She is completely serious about this mission. Good. "You and Kankurou are jounin and Matsuri is chuunin. And since you won't be leaving the country there is no reason for us to send more than three people. Besides, with your abilities, you shouldn't have any problems with this mission."
"Alright."
"Good. You're dismissed."
A couple of days later, Akane, Kankurou and Matsuri were walking through the desert towards Suna. I'm so glad that mission is over. If I ever forgot why I hated being a bodyguard, this definitely reminded me of it. Akane had frustration clearly written on her face even though she was trying hard to suppress it – she didn't want to repeat what happened the last time.
"Um... Kankurou-san?" Matsuri was glancing from Akane back to Kankurou worriedly.
"Yeah?"
"Why is Akane-san angry?"
Kankurou chuckled at this. "Don't worry about her, she's not a people person, so missions like this one give her headaches."
"I am perfectly fine with people, Kankurou. I just have hard time being around an annoying, screaming, kicking brats for 24 hours straight."
"That's not very good."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you even planning on being a mother?"
"Of course I am, but what does that have to do with this conversation?"
"Well, if you can't stand kids, then ho-"
"Alright! I get it!"
"Actually, Kankurou-san, that comes naturally for mothers, I mean, everyone loves their own child."
"Maybe you're right Matsuri." Then he smirked and turned to face Akane. "Still, it's not like you have to worry about having kids, when chances of even finding someone to have them with are zero."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't take it the wrong way, you're not bad looking. Your personality is what will chase everyone away." Kankurou realized his mistake in being completely honest the moment Akane stopped dead in her tracks. He expected her to turn around and punch the daylights out of him, but she simply continued walking instead.
The rest of their short trip to Suna was in an uncomfortable silence. Akane refused to talk or even look at anyone, Kankurou felt guilty, but didn't know what to say or do about it, and Matsuri was afraid that she might cause an unwanted negative reaction if she spoke.
As soon as they passed the village's gates, Akane broke the silence. "I'm going to write a report on this mission. You two are free to go." Matsuri said her goodbyes and left in a hurry. Akane began walking towards the kage tower, but was stopped by Kankurou. "Listen, Akane, I'm-"
"Don't. You should never apologize for telling the truth. Anyway, I'm not mad if that's what you're worrying about. I'm just not feeling very well." She began walking again. "I'll see you in the morning."
Akane barely slept that night. She felt weird. The way she was acting lately was unusual. At lest for her. And it was creeping her out. It makes no sense... My normal reaction in cases like that one would be to punch his sorry ass into the next week. It's strange... Instead of being angry, I felt sad and hurt... weird.
A week later, Akane was coming back from grocery shopping. This is just like back in Konoha. Two completely uninterested guys, who'd rather die from hunger than go shopping for food. One of them, of course, would say that he is too busy to go to the store, and the other one would usually just walk out without saying a word, or he'll say something smart like: "grocery shopping and making food is women's job". I'd like to see him say that to his wife if he ever gets married! She didn't notice that someone was in front of her, until she hit him. Right when she was about to apologize for not paying attention- "Sasuke! What are you doing here?" She dropped her bags and gave her brother a bear hug.
"Akane, can't breathe!"
She quickly pulled away with an apologetic smile on her face, that soon turned into a wide green. And then she hugged him again. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, but I'm not gonna kill you for it!"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to strangle you." She took the bags again and they started walking towards the kage's house.
"Akane?"
"Hm?"
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Just asking."
After a short silence, Akane spoke again. "You didn't tell me why you're here yet."
"I wanted to see how you're doing, so I asked Tsunade to let me go. Since there weren't any missions for me at the time, she agreed."
"Oh."
When they reached the house, Kankurou was there, lying on the couch. "Sasuke meet Kankurou, he's one of Temari's younger brothers. Kankurou, this is my brother Sasuke. Now unless one of you is going to cook, I want you out of here. The last thing I need is you two coming into the kitchen every five minutes to ask if lunch is ready."
"Didn't you say you weren't going to cook?"
"I changed my mind."
Kankurou smirked. "Oh really?"
"Yes, really. And what are you smirking about?"
"Oh, nothing." Then he turned to the other Uchiha. "How does sparring before lunch sound to you?"
"With you? Piece of cake."
"You're on!" And with that they ran outside.
About an hour later, when Kankurou finally admitted defeat, he and Sasuke were walking back to the house. Uchiha was looking around, but not really paying attention to his surroundings.
"Something on you mind Sasuke?"
"Akane is acting weird."
"So you've noticed too? It started a couple of weeks ago."
"Do you know why?"
"It's just a hunch. I'll have to test it before I can be sure."
"Do you mind sharing?"
"Not at all." Then Kankurou smirked. "It's quite simple. Your dear sister is in love with my brother."
"You're joking! Akane? No way! She's nineteen years old and she's never even had a crush. And now you're saying that she's in love with someone."
"That's what I thought at first. Or at least some of it, I don't know her as well as you do... Anyway, that's why I have to test that theory first."
"And how are you planning to do that? I doubt that either one of them is going to cooperate. Besides, what if you're right? If she admits how she feels about him but doesn't get those feelings returned, she'll be heartbroken. She may be a pain sometimes, but she's still my sister and I don't want her to her hurt."
"And that brings us to the other part of my theory."
"There is another part?"
"Of course. You see, my friend, people who don't know my little brother wouldn't see any difference, but I can tell that he's been acting quite weird as well."
"You mean...?"
"Oh yeah. And all they need now, is a push in the right direction."
"So what's the plan?"
"Does that mean you're in?"
"Hey, if you're right and they do get together, she'll eventually move here and be happy, and I'm gonna get rid of her once and for all. It's a win-win situation."
"Alright, here's the plan."