When Ura had stepped into her new room, Ura was about to fall on her back at the lavished desert theme. Her bedsheets were the color of crimson red as her sheets were silk white. The two windows held the same white silk material as did her sheets, allowing a soft eastward breeze to waft through her room. There was a desk between the two windows that face her doorway, with pictures of her team as Genin and the recent picture with her and Gaara together. The entire room was more than what Ura had expected when Gaara said he would handle putting her room together. It was as if he put too much thought into the process in hopes of getting her own approval. Temari entered the room and just shook her head, "Gaara really feels guilty if he lavished you with this..."

"Guilty about what?" Ura turned to Temari.

"Think about it, Kankurou and I get the positions you wanted since you couldn't be the Kazekage. So, he gives you this lovely room, a rank just below his own, and you get any mission you want," Temari explained as she continued to look around the room, "Frankly, he feels like a steaming pile of shit right now."

Ura looked around her room again. Why did Gaara treat her so nicely when all she wanted was nothing from him? She felt her heart tug as she looked at the picture of only her and Gaara on her desk and that same picture was by her bed. It was when Gaara first became Kazekage, she had her arm around his shoulder and a peace sign. In that picture, her and Gaara's faces were so close they were touching. Ura remembered that day, she was so happy to even have a lone picture with him to remember that day forever. Temari noticed Ura's fixation on the photo and sighed, "Do you want to change rooms?"

"No..." Ura slowly shook her head, her love for Gaara was a burden she had to carry on her own, "No, i'll just...stay here..."

"Ok..." Temari grimaced as she slowly backed out of the room.

Ura put her small pack on the couch as she walked over to her new desk. Gaara...why did he have to go all out and make her room fit for a Queen? She sat in the soft, light wood chair as she glanced at the picture of her and Gaara. What if she told him she was pursuing a relationship with the Uchiha? Would he then leave her alone? No...she wouldn't want that. Though she knew his visits were brief and it left her heartbroken at the end of them, she still loved seeing him during the day. She hunched over the desk, folding her arms beneath her so she could rest her head on them. The room was too much... He didn't need to waste his thoughts on her...

The door opened to her room and Gaara walked in, she could see he was proud with what he had done in the room. Ura managed to dive into her feelings for him and stood up with a loving smile on her face, "This is wonderful, Gaara, I didn't think you would do all of this for me."

"I hope it is to your comfort," Gaara gestured to the old toy collection that had played with when they were children, "These are just a few, the others are in my own room."

"I see..." Ura glanced at the nostalgia, he was trying to hold onto the friendship they had before instead of looking forward, "Gaara, I really love this room, but will others start thinking because it's this lavished?"

"I don't understand," Gaara cocked a brow at her, "Do you not like it?"

"That's not it! I love this room," Ura quickly smiled, then grasped the picture of her and Gaara, "I really like how you used this picture twice. It can show everyone that there was at least one kunoichi who never gave up on you."

Gaara eyed her and that picture. He had chosen that picture for a different reason. That picture was the day he also gave her the title as Jonin, but it was the same day he saw her change a little. When the elders had given him the title as Kazekage, Ura was the first to know. It was like seeing an old toy torn to pieces, some light had faded from her eyes that day that came back sometimes. He had heard she had wanted the title too, but she acted so happy for him that he discarded that thought. Gaara gently took the picture from her, but he saw some bruises on her arm that made his eyes widened, "Were there enemies on your way back from Konoha?"

"No," Ura answered, then noticed her bruises, "Oh, these? You know how pale I am, every battle scar shows no matter how I try to hide them."

He gently touched one of her bruises, but Ura quickly drew her arm away from him. Gaara could barely see any of the scars on her body, but he didn't say anything. At least she looked like she liked the way he decorated her room. He crossed his arms and notioned her to follow him. Ura followed suit and followed him out of the room. As his P.A., she had to in order to help him become a better Kazekage to his people. She followed him all the way to his office where the elders sat along with other high ranking Shinobi from the village. Gaara sat at the head as Ura stood by his side, the other Shinobi just gazed at her with some disdain. They knew her feelings for Gaara, they were not a secret anymore. The only one who seemed to be in the dark was Gaara himself anymore.

The Kazekage pulled out some files and went over them, then was handed a scroll by Lady Chiyo, who eyed Ura constantly. Ura gulped slightly, holding her breath as she waited for Gaara to finally say something. Gaara then looked up from the paperwork, "So, there's word of a mystery-nin that's been sighted by the Southern Unit several times in the last month. Is there any document image that we can see in order to get a face."

"No, Lord Kazekage, the troops can only say the person is tall with gray skin and white hair. Anything else is a mystery to them," one of the top Shinobi explained, handing over a brief description to Gaara, "Should we take an offensive or defensive action?"

Gaara glanced up at Ura, then back at the elders. He pondered for a few moments before he answered, "We will call upon our friends in the Leaf to be with us to take a better look at this person. Have my sister send word to Naruto to bring his best Shinobi with him when he comes here. There will be no fighting between our Shinobi or that person. A time for war hasn't arrived yet."

"Do you want more troops at the Units?" another shinobi asked quickly before Gaara dismissed the meeting.

"Get as many shinobi around the border as you can. Temporarily block trade until we figure out what this person wants," Gaara explained as he looked at a few more scrolls, "If trade is necessary, we will find a way to import and export without getting anyone hurt."

Ura was enjoying the meeting thuroughly. Listening to the strategies and seeing Gaara in his Kazekage action was more than a thrill. Though she had wanted the position, Gaara was doing mighty fine job on his own. The meeting continued on for another few hours until there was a detailed plan on how to get Naruto and his troops in without getting attention from the stalker outside the village. Even Ura was allowed to participate, Gaara had openly asked for her opinion on his answers and he even had her advice advanced to an action where the outer Units were to dress as civilians and the same for Naruto and his troop. Ura definitely felt like she was becoming an active part to helping her village. She would have to make Gaara's favorite dinner that night for letting her have such a ranking position where he considered her thoughts and ideas as an asset to his own.

After the meeting, Ura was in her own little world of excitement as she followed Gaara back to his office. She couldn't wait to tell Temari what she had witnessed and tell her how happy she was at her new title. Gaara noticed Ura's expressive happiness and crossed his arms, "You didn't think the position I gave you was that intriguing did you?"

"I had no idea that's what I was allowed to do!" Ura beamed, then calmed down slightly, "Let me make you dinner tonight, i'm-"

"Don't burn it this time," Gaara looked over his shoulder at her, "It was burnt to dust last time."

"Was not..." Ura grumbled as she too crossed her arms.

Ura entered his office with him and sat in the chair in front of him. She then noticed he wasn't just doing any research, the scrolls he was looking over were all the names of Suna kunoichi. What was he planning on doing with all the names and information about every kunoichi in the village? Ura looked over his desk some more, "What are you doing, Gaara?"

"Kankurou has been hinting that there's a woman in this village who had been harboring strong feelings towards me. I would like to know who it is so I can choose whether or not to pursue a mutual bond with," Gaara answered, not looking up from the scrolls, "There is that Matsuri girl, but she is just a Chunin now. She is too young...so i've counted her out."

"You're...looking for..that woman?" Ura felt her blood begin to boil from anger and hurt residing inside of her, "What if you already knew?"

Gaara paused his research to look up at her, "Do you know of this woman too?"

She snapped. There was no way she could hold in her anger for another second. Ura stood up abruptly and crossed her arms, "This woman you're looking for is right under your little nose and hasn't moved from that spot for some time. Let me give you some more of my tremendous advice, leave her alone. She may still love you, but someone probably needs her when you had every chance under the god damn sun to know who she was! Make your own dinner..."

With that, Ura disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Gaara was a bit surprised at her outburst of anger. Ura never, not once, lost her temper with him. Though he was curious to why she was so upset with him, he would have to find out later. There was still some research and more kunoichis to cross out...

:::::::

Meanwhile

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He paced through the sand, his chance to strike had to be soon due to being spotted so easily by the shinobi of Suna. No matter, he would have to just infilitrate through their forces and get to the spirit beast. A wicked smile formed with his toothy grin in the hot desert sun. In an instant, he morphed from a man to a raven. He took too the skies and flew around to fool the damn shinobi that he was just a mere animal, not someone who was planning the village's capture of their spirit beast leader.

The raven flew for a few more hours, then departed farther away from the village. He would have to come back the next day to go through with his plan. That spirit beast would be his no matter what happened, that power would be enough for him to start his own country to control and conquer. Soon, one day, all the people of every country will bow down to him and call him, "King Master Kabutome".

::::::::

Ura

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Who the hell did he think he was! Was Gaara that blind! Ura wanted to destroy the room she had entered that Gaara decorated for her, but she didn't want too either... It was too beautiful and it meant a lot to Gaara that she liked it. Ura found the picture of her and Gaara, she raised it violently into the air, preparing to smash it... But she stopped. Tears rushed down her face as she held the picture close to her heart, why did Gaara have to hurt her with his ignorance? She went over to her bed and felt the anger rush through her, why did he have to be so blind? It wasn't fair...

At least she had a chance to feel less hollow with Sasuke waiting for her in Konoha. It was enough...right? There was a knock at her door, a servant walked in and bowed to her, "Lady Ura, Lord Kazekage wishes for your presence."

"Tell him i'm not here," Ura stood up and walked passed the servant, then left the mansion altogether.

She walked through the streets as the noon heat wave passed over. Opening her metal umbrellas, Ura blocked the sun with the cold metal as she walked to a nearby bar. Before she even got to open the door, a messenger dove soared above Ura and dived gently down to her shoulder. Who was trying to contact her? She had arrived back in Suna a little over a day ago after running a three day hike. Ura carefully took the messenge off of it's leg and unraveled it, a soft blush formed on her cheeks. Sasuke had written her an endearing, well for him, to her. It was short and to the point, he wanted her to visit him soon before he went on a mission with Sakura and Ino. Ura had heard the two old friends had become life partners, but they were skilled kunoichis nonetheless. Whatever mission they were going on was certainly going to be long and she wouldn't see Sasuke in awhile. She rolled the messenge back up and stuffed it into her pocket, sending the bird back without a messenge. Tomorrow, she'll send a letter back to Sasuke and tell him she will return to Konoha in a few days.

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Gaara

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The Kazekage stood at the lookout at the very top of his mansion. He didn't know how to take Ura's reaction, but it did make him wonder. Did she know the woman personally? If so, then why did she get that upset like she did? It didn't make much sense to him... Either way, he had other things to worry about besides his love life. The village came first, it always has and always will.

Kankurou appeared behind Gaara, "Gaara, we've sent a tracker unit to see who that person was, but we haven't heard word from them. When we sent another to find them, only a few came back and said there were nothing but animals eating the corpses. I think we're in over our heads, Gaara..."

"We'll have to send someone out there to see what he wants," Gaara put his hands behind his back, "I could go myself, but it would leave the village open to attack. There's only one person I can rely on for this type of S-Rank mission."

Kankurou felt his spine free as he understood what Gaara meant, "It...it might be..a bit risky, don't you think? She's our teammate... What if-"

"She will be fine," Gaara gazed at the setting sun, "Find her, and tell her the mission. I want a report by tomorrow morning."

"But Gaara-"

"That is my instruction," Gaara turned and left, "If she has any disputes, send her to me."

Kankurou couldn't believe Gaara was actually going to send Ura to the front of the lines before anyone else. Yes, she was a skilled kunoichi, but sending her on a suicidal mission? The tracker troops are faster than her! And they're dead! Ura didn't stand a chance at whatever was out there, waiting... But, he had to obey, dispite his own personal judgement. Kankurou leaped from the mansion, finding the only place he would find his single kunoichi friend. He entered the bar to see Ura wasn't even half way gone on the sake. Kankurou approached her, she turned and looked up at him with wide eyes, "Oh, hey Kankurou. What's up?"

"Uhm... Gaara has a mission for you, you need to leave now," Kankurou whispered into her ear.

Again...another damn mission right after the other, no break whatsoever. Ura walked outside with Kankurou as the night air became colder to the extreme desert. When Kankurou told her the news, Ura's eyes widened at the height of danger Gaara was placing her in. So... She lowered her eyes to the ground as her lips tightened, Gaara really was treating her like a true kunoichi of Suna. Fine, if he wanted a report, she give him the best damn report! Ura turned her look to defiance as she placed a hand on her hip, "Alright, if i'm not back by sun-up, then consider me dead or missing."

"You don't have to do this, Ura," Kankurou tried to stop her, "I can go instead-"

"Did he ask you! No, he wants me to go and that's what will happen!" Ura stated angrily as she walked towards the entrance gap, then looked over her shoulder, "Kankurou... If I die, you can then tell Gaara my secret. After that, my soul will finally rest with peace."

She had nothing left to say as she walked through the entrance gap...