Standard disclaimers apply. I'm just borrowing these characters for a little while.
Author's note: Kishimoto-sensei's plan is to fit the entire 4th Shinobi War Arc into a matter of days in the Naruto timeline, but I'm taking the liberty of extending it since war is never so quick and clean-cut. Events from the manga will be added, removed or shifted around. Please pardon my impudence.
"Chakra exhaustion."
In all his born years, Gaara had never felt this weak or tired. He guessed from the faint light filtering into the tent that it had to be early in the morning; there certainly was a lot of activity going on around the camp, if the number of moving chakra signatures were anything to go by. But the mere act of lowering the sound barrier by a fraction had resulted in a sharp pain piercing his temples, causing him to give a low hiss.
The redhead was currently tucked tightly in his own bed, and Sakura was finally fulfilling her duty as his personal medic after so many months of war; chakra tea not counting. She stood near his bedside, a pot of said tea held in one hand and her other placed on her cocked hip in annoyance.
"Gaara, you really should have been pacing yourself. First, you fought a full day on the battlefield, and within hours you and Naruto went for a scuffle, which I assume you both tried to out-do each other in the most dramatic way possible," Sakura sighed, "You never gave your chakra reserves a chance to recover at all."
"We did spend a few hours talking… among other things," Gaara retorted as he fixed his gaze on her.
Was that a slight quirk of the corner of his mouth?
Sakura could not help but blush at the memory, but she had to act in her capacity now as the Regimental Commander's personal medic. Harnessing an aura of calmness, she replied in a clipped, professional voice, "Those scant few hours were barely enough for you to replenish your chakra. I am ordering strict bed rest for the remainder of today and tomorrow, Kazekage-sama. No military meetings, no troop supervision, and engaging in battles will be completely out of the question."
The more Sakura spoke, the more Gaara's eyes narrowed. When she finally stopped talking, Gaara had closed his eyes, a knot of frustration starting to form above the bridge of his nose.
"Sakura, you know that it is impossible for me to stay in bed the whole day. We just came off a battle with immeasurable losses – there will be many meetings that I will need to attend and much work to be done to clean up the aftermath and prepare for our next move. I am, in fact, scheduled for a meeting with the War Council today. And I have to go to the medic base to check on my men's conditions."
"Gaara," Sakura ran a hand through her hair in mild frustration, "I know that you are the Regimental Commander, and I understand your obligations, but you are not helping anyone if you insist on working yourself beyond your limits."
"I know my own limits."
"Well, clearly you do not. Otherwise you wouldn't be in this situation."
If there was one thing that Gaara had learnt about Sakura, it was that she always had to win an argument.
Gaara heaved a sigh, "Is there a faster way for me to recover my chakra?"
"Bed rest and chakra tea; your chakra reserves must replenish themselves, and there are no known methods of accelerating the process so far," Sakura's tone was apologetic, "I'm sorry, Gaara, but that's how it works."
She only wished that Gaara would stop giving her that kicked puppy look.
"If I may make a suggestion, Gaara?" Sakura sounded a little hesitant for some reason yet unknown to Gaara.
Gaara nodded for her to speak, and Sakura did, "You have a Second-in-Command right here on your base. I believe Shikamaru will be able to perform all your duties for you just for today. You can count on him to make sensible decisions in your stead."
A tortured look skimmed across Gaara's face briefly. It was true that Shikamaru was his lieutenant, and he could hand off his duties to him for a day without the entire encampment burning to the ground spontaneously. But intelligent as Shikamaru was, the Nara Prodigy still had the tendency to look as if he had lemons for breakfast; a good political front that did not make.
Sakura, misreading his expression for one of resignation, turned on her heels and said, "I'll go and find Shikamaru to let him know of his assignment for today."
"No, I can handle my duties by myself," retorted Gaara as he forcefully threw off his covers and forced himself into a seating position, ready to make a break from his imposed confinement.
Sakura quickly set the teapot down on the desk and ran towards Gaara, just as he was rising to his feet with some difficulty. His unsteadiness combined with Sakura's forward momentum sent them both tumbling and spinning backwards onto his bed, leaving Sakura compromisingly positioned under him with one thigh between his while Gaara's lips brushed against her exposed neckline.
Sakura, as per her usual reaction, started to turn a bright pink. Her traitorous mind was starting to go to some very awkward places after her rather intense make-out session with Gaara.
Gaara simply blinked, a little disoriented by the fall. There were little sparks of light flashing before his eyes and interfering with his senses, thus leaving him unaware of how wonderfully close Sakura was at that moment. All he could do was give out an involuntary groan of pain at the sudden wave of nausea that he was currently experiencing.
Naturally, Shikamaru had chosen that precise second to walk unannounced into their tent.
Shikamaru was never a fan of being hospitalised. It usually meant hours of boredom, limited visitors and visiting hours, and being medicated to his gills until he was as happy as a clam.
Fortunately, he was allowed to return to the Fourth Division that morning after his attending medic proclaimed him fit for duty.
But not before he forced Shikamaru to down an entire flask of water to fight off the lingering effects of his sunstroke, of course.
Shikamaru was just putting on his sandals when a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking up, he was mildly surprised to see the sand-cat watching him from the side of the tent entrance.
After a pause, he called out, "Here, Munchkins."
It was a reasonable compromise between the Kazekage and Sakura's names for the cat, Shikamaru figured. And the sand-cat seemed to agree when it answered Shikamaru's beckon.
The sand-cat hopped onto the bed and sat down next to Shikamaru, and the first thing Shikamaru noticed was that it was holding what appeared to be a piece of orange fabric in its mouth. As a cat owner, Shikamaru had received various gifts from his two cats over the years, ranging from lizards (or just their tails) to a stone-cold magpie left on his pillow; never a piece of clothing.
But the moment he started reaching for it, the sand-cat drew back, flattening its ears and growling around the fabric. Its eyes narrowed as it tensed its hindlegs, and the Nara prodigy knew a possessive cat when he saw one.
Alright, so it was a personal trophy – one that looked suspiciously like it came out of Naruto's wardrobe, concluded Shikamaru.
Both man and cat stared at each other, and Shikamaru used the moment of rare peacefulness to sort out the many thoughts that had been running through his mind in the past day.
There was, of course, the matter of Naruto's fight with Gaara. There had been no sound of weeping kunoichi's at the untimely demise of their beloved Kazekage, nor has there been news of the Kyuubi rampaging the lands thanks to its now-deceased Jinchuuriki. So clearly Naruto and Gaara had come to some sort of an understanding with regards to Sakura.
For Sakura's sake, he was gladdened by that thought.
Something else was bothering Shikamaru, though; it was flat, rectangular and was currently sitting on his bedside table, its front with the words 'A Concise History of Sunagakure's Kazekage Family' embossed on it. Temari had simply loaned it to him and said nothing else, and he was now wondering why she had done so in the first place.
Inside said book held his newfound knowledge about how all the Kazekage's of Sunagakure had married from within their Village; the only Shinobi Nation with such a practice. The other four nation's Kage or their predecessors had no such history. In fact, Konohagakure's first Hokage married a woman from the Uzumaki clan to strengthen alliances.
Which meant that Gaara would have to marry a woman from within Suna one day, and that woman would not be Sakura.
He had to tell Sakura what she was getting herself into, before she became too involved with Gaara for either of them to part without hurting the other.
Turning to the sand-cat, he said, "Let's go find Sakura."
The sand-cat merely tilted its head slightly in puzzlement, but tagged along behind Shikamaru as he left the tent in search of the Regimental Commander's personal medic.
With so many shinobi currently in the medic base, it would be a difficult, though not impossible, task to locate Sakura's chakra signature. Deciding that it was not worth the trouble, he gestured to a passing civilian doctor.
"Have you seen Haruno-san around?"
The doctor, though, looked as if Shikamaru had just asked him to go on a suicide mission into the Akatsuki base all by himself; contracting a sudden case of albinism, he shook his head quickly and bolted before Shikamaru could even process what had just happened.
Shikamaru stared at the rapidly vanishing figure for a while, wondering what exactly transpired with Sakura that caused that doctor to pale so much at the mere mention of her name. Sakura had always been polite and professional with her fellow medics, as far as Shikamaru could recall.
Maybe the rumour about how Gaara had stormed into the medic base two days ago like the second coming of Shukaku and practically tore the place apart looking for his personal medic was not too far-fetched after all.
Just as Shikamaru was pondering his next move, he caught sight of a familiar figure from the corner of his eye.
"Shizune-san!"
The harried-looking brunette, her arms full of overflowing medical files, turned towards Shikamaru. Ever the gentleman, he quickly moved to take most of her load for her.
"Ah, Shikamaru. Thank you very much," Shizune adjusted her shoulders a little to ease the cramping feeling in them before they continued towards her tent, "Is there something I can do for you?"
"Well," Shikamaru ducked under the tent flap and held it up for her, "I am looking for Sakura. Do you know where she might be?"
He watched patiently as Shizune first placed her stack of medical files onto a table before she turned back to him to take the other files. Her expression was vaguely troubled-looking.
"Something happened, and I had to release Sakura from medic base duties."
Shizune had continued to put away the medical files, and was thus unaware of how appalled Shikamaru looked for a moment there.
Was Sakura's fainting spell that serious?
"Is she alright?" He tried and just about managed to suppress the panic in his voice.
"What?" Shizune did not look up from her task as she answered him, engrossed as she was in her task, "Oh, it's not what you think, Shikamaru. Kazekage-sama is currently indisposed, and Sakura is attending to him since she is his personal medic."
Gaara being unwell was news to him. Shikamaru had not heard anyone mentioning this prior to Shizune's own words, but he supposed it was necessary to limit the number of people who knew of their Regimental Commander's currently vulnerable state.
It also brought up another rather distasteful idea: that he had to look for Sakura in Gaara's tent. Shikamaru had wanted to talk to her about Naruto, and he did not want to broach that topic in front of Gaara.
When even Sai – socially-inept, situationally-challenged Sai – could tell how much Naruto loved Sakura, and Sakura herself was aware of the blond's feelings for her as well, her choosing of Gaara over Naruto had to affect her more than she was letting on.
Shikamaru did not want to see Sakura blaming herself for matters beyond her control yet again; she always had the tendency to let guilt take possession of her senses. When their own relationship fell apart two years ago, it took him a solid three months to convince Sakura that neither of them could have foreseen what had happened. And the current situation now involved Naruto – one of her closest friends and teammates for almost half her life.
Troublesome.
With a soft sign of resignation, Shikamaru began his slow but determined trek towards the Fourth Division Camp, the sand-cat walking in step with him – a constant reminder of whom he was about to face.
Once he reached the campsite, Shikamaru realised that he had another problem to contend with: how was he supposed to announce himself to Sakura with all the wards and barriers set up around the tent without suffering a chakra backlash?
More importantly, how was he going to do it without getting tossed out by sand?
Turning to the seated sand-cat, he asked, "Well, what do you suggest, Munchkins?"
The sand-cat narrowed its eyes at Shikamaru, and he knew that it was most cats' way of implying "are you stupid, human?"
With a soft purr, the sand-cat got up and strode right past the tent flap and into the tent.
Oh, what the heck. Sakura will not let Gaara kill me anyway.
Screwing his courage to its sticking place, Shikamaru stood a little taller and took purposeful steps towards the tent, and drew back the tent flap with the back of his hand.
The first thing he heard was masculine moaning, and his eyes followed after his ears to the source of the noise – the Kazekage sprawled awkwardly over his female comrade in a tangle of limbs who might or might not be engaging in intimate activities at that moment.
Well, it looks like Sakura is being weighed down by something other than guilt.
The sand-cat chose that exact moment to purr like an engine, causing Sakura to twist her torso to locate it.
Of course, she found Shikamaru at the same time.
"Shikamaru!"
Gaara's groans ceased abruptly, and Shikamaru thought he could hear the hiss of flowing sand in the tent. The hair at the back of his neck started to tingle in silent alarm.
"I-I'm going to come back in, say, half an hour - no, an hour! Ok?" Shikamaru quickly offered.
"That will not be necessary, Nara-san," said Gaara in a low, oddly dangerous-sounding tone.
Gaara began to pull himself off Sakura, finally freeing her from his body weight. Sakura could see the small droplets of sweat dotting his forehead; he was clearly still exhausted and her first instincts were to help him into a sitting position. However, Shikamaru was present, and Gaara was his commanding officer. If she were to extend aid to Gaara, it would be misconstrued as a sign of weakness on the Regimental Commander's part, so she wisely kept her hands at her side.
Finally, Gaara settled into a slightly hunched position on the edge of the bed, and Sakura took the opportunity to slip off to stand at Gaara's desk, hands folded over her lap.
Sakura's blush and Gaara's scowl, however, was really starting to make Shikamaru wonder if he should have left when he had the chance to. Certainly, he would have to outrun a murderous sand cloud, but Gaara's current physical condition might prevent him from conjuring up said sandy death, too.
"Nara-san," began Gaara, "I am under advisement from my medic that I should be confined to bed for the next two days, so I will need you to find someone suitable to take over my duties for me."
What?
Sakura blinked in surprise, paused for a moment to process Gaara's words, then quickly said, "But Shikamaru is your proxy Commander, Kazekage-sama. I'm certain that he will be able to perform in your stead for just today."
"I wish to consult Nara-san on some other matters today, Haruno-san," explained Gaara.
Shikamaru was certain that a mere consultation should not result in him feeling so much killing intent from Gaara, but he wisely held his tongue.
"If I can trouble you, Haruno-san?"
"Of course, Kazekage-sama."
Okay, that's it.
"Sakura," Shikamaru sighed and resisted rolling his eyes, "I already know that you are seeing the Kazekage. There is no need for the two of you to address each other so formally in front of me."
"There are still protocols to be observed, Nara-san," Gaara replied, then turned to Sakura, "Haruno-san, can you locate Baki-san for me so that I may transfer my duties to him?"
Gladdened by the thought that Gaara was finally willing to make her life as his personal medic much easier, Sakura nodded and left the tent with a smile on her lips.
That left Shikamaru all alone with Gaara. And the sand-cat, if one counted it.
"Nara-san, shall we speak frankly?"
The chakra-filled sand that was attached to the back of Shikamaru's ear was rubbing against his skull rather abrasively, for some reason; he had to fight the urge to scratch. Instead, he lifted his gaze to meet Gaara's own.
It was most definitely not the friendliest expression he had ever seen on Gaara.
But for Sakura's sake, Shikamaru went ahead and spoke his mind anyway, "Kazekage-sama, when were you planning to tell Sakura about the Kazehime selection criteria?"
Gaara seemed taken aback for a moment at Shikamaru's directness, but he quickly regained his composure and replied, "That is why I asked my sister to pass you that book, Nara-san. That is also why I needed to speak with you privately."
Shikamaru reached into his pouch and pulled out the book, waving it for affirmation. Gaara nodded once, then promptly turned the tables on Shikamaru.
"Do you harbour affections towards Haruno-san, Nara-san?"
The question was spoken plainly and almost without a hint of any emotions, but Shikamaru could feel the end of the world coming for him anyway.
"I care for Sakura as a comrade, Kazekage-sama."
It was apparently the wrong answer, because Gaara had started to scowl.
"I know what it is like to care for a fellow shinobi, Nara-san, but from your actions around Haruno-san, I can tell that there is something deeper between the two of you; if not in the present, then in the past," said Gaara.
And Shikamaru knew there and then that he was trapped – if he told Gaara the truth, he would be dead. But if he lied to Gaara and it was later found out, he'd be dead-er.
Drawing a breath to calm himself, Shikamaru met Gaara's eyes and replied firmly, "We dated in the past. Sakura and I are just good friends now."
Mother, father, forgive your son for passing on before you. Please try for a new heir to head the Nara clan.
Gaara went quiet for so long that it took Shikamaru a while longer to realise that Gaara was waiting for him to stop freezing up and start breathing again. The amount of testosterone in the air was almost suffocating.
Gaara's voice became dangerously soft when he asked rather bluntly, "And you have not done anything dishonourable towards her?"
"No," Shikamaru replied, then quickly added for good measure, "Sir."
The Nara prodigy was having an unpleasant flashback to the time when Sakura's father asked him the exact same question sometime after they started dating; her father had taken out his entire antique swords collection and was painstakingly cleaning and sharpening them the entire time he was talking to Shikamaru. Oh, Shikamaru knew it was an act of intimidation more than anything else, since Sakura's father was a civilian, but that did not stop him from breaking out into a cold sweat all the same.
Gaara paused to study Shikamaru's expression, trying to detect any signs of dishonesty. Finally, he lifted his head from his propped-up chin and nodded.
"I believe you, Nara-san," Gaara allowed a ghost of a smile to pass over his lips, "But be forewarned that if you should renew your interest in Haruno-san, I will not hesitate to protect what is mine."
Shikamaru could not help it; he bristled at the idea of Sakura being referred to as a piece of property. While he considered the women in his life to be the source of most troubles, he still respected them as his equals.
"Kazekage-sama, forgive my directness, but Sakura is her own woman and she should be allowed to be with anyone she wants."
"Then I shall give her every reason to stay with me; she will never need to go back to an old flame's embrace."
"Whose embrace is Sakura going back to?" came a feminine voice from the tent flap as it was lifted without warning.
Gaara concluded that today was Unannounced Visitors Day when both his siblings walked into the tent without waiting for an invitation. He was about to voice his displeasure at their sudden intrusion when there was a flare of chakra from outside his tent, and the next thing he knew, he had to add Sakura and Baki to his occupancy count.
The redhead shot another look of warning to Shikamaru before turning his attention to his newly arrived visitors.
"Baki-san, has Haruno-san spoken to you about what you have to do?"
Hands crossed behind his back and standing at attention, his former teacher nodded and said, "Sakura-san has informed me to take over your workload for the next two days. I hope you will take this opportunity to rest and recover well, Kazekage-sama. The war cannot go on without its Regimental Commander."
Gaara nodded and turned towards Sakura next, "Haruno-san, I'd like you to go with Baki-san today to help me observe the state of the Division. Should any problems arise, I trust that the both of you will be able to rectify the situation between yourselves."
Sakura blinked, a little confused by Gaara's request. As his personal medic, she should be by his side to take care of him, and also to ensure that Gaara did not skip taking his chakra tea.
Gaara read the expression on her face accurately and stated, "I will consume the tea every two hours as you have asked me to."
Addressing Baki now, Gaara bowed his head slightly, causing the older shinobi to stiffen at the undeserved formality, "Baki-san, I hope you will not mistake my sending of Haruno-san with you as a slight on your abilities. I merely do not want you to overwork yourself."
Sakura mentally rolled her eyes at Gaara's explanation. Temari briefly opened her mouth as if to say something, but clamped it shut almost immediately; she settled for shooting Gaara a look of puzzlement instead.
"That will not be a problem, Kazekage-sama. I am in fact honoured to be working with your personal medic on such important matters," Baki bowed low at the waist.
Knowing that it would be pointless to argue with Gaara, not to mention disrespectful to do so in front of his subordinates, Sakura gave him a smile of acknowledgement before following Baki out of the tent.
And then there were four.
"… So, we were with Baki-san when Sakura came for him," explained Kankurou, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
Temari chipped in at once, "we just wanted to make sure that our little brother is alright."
Sighing softly at his siblings's obvious intentions, Gaara said, "the answer is yes: I am courting Haruno-san now."
Temari grinned so widely that Gaara thought her face would crack.
No good ever came from Temari's grins.
"So, is that why you sent her out with Baki-san? To have her shadow him and learn about the responsibilities of the Kazehime?"
"Perhaps," came his cryptic reply.
Shikamaru decided that it was enough. He took a few steps forward to stand closer to the edge of the bed where Gaara was seated on and scowled, "Are you setting Sakura up for false hopes, Kazekage-sama? To enter a relationship with her knowing full well that you'd have to marry a woman from within Sunagakure by tradition?"
He pulled out the history book and placed it on Gaara's desk purposefully, then crossed his arms as he said, "As her friend, I do not want to see Sakura hurt once more. She deserves to know that this relationship will have no happy ending."
"And that is why I need you here now, Nara-san," Gaara's eyes were downcast, and his posture went slack for just a second, correcting himself before the gesture could be misinterpreted as a sign of weakness.
Now it was Shikamaru's turn to look confused as he looked from Gaara to Temari, and back.
"I wish to pursue my courtship with Sakura to its natural conclusion," Gaara finally uttered her name directly, "But if you cannot find a loophole in the history of the Kazekage's where a foreign bride was made the Kazehime, then…"
Temari heaved a deliberately loud sigh.
"Gaara, you could have asked us to help. If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can find a way around this," Temari walked over to Gaara's side and sat down on the end of the bed.
Looking at Shikamaru, the Kankurou asked, "You're supposed to be the smart one here, Shikamaru. Got anything from the book?"
"First off, this book is lacking in a lot of details, so I can't really work from it. Unless I can somehow get access to more information from the Suna archives, I can't assess the situation accurately," Shikamaru did not want to be the one to drown everyone's pinned hopes on him, but he had to be honest as well.
Kankurou suddenly smacked his fist into his open palm, effectively drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Hey, Temari, didn't Yashamaru used to tell us that story about the Second Kazehime? You know, the one you still think is romantic after all these years?"
"It's just a story, Kankurou," said Temari, but she suddenly sat up straight, "Although, I think he read it to us from a scroll in the Kage's personal archives. So it may be real."
"Let's hear it," said Gaara and Shikamaru in unison.
Suppressing a snort of amusement at how Shikamaru and Gaara were both so concerned over Sakura, Temari began.
"Sunagakure, as you know, was built in a harsh environment where only the strongest could survive. Around the time of the naming of the First Kazekage, it was decided that the Kazekage would marry the best kunoichi in Suna so as to strengthen the bloodlines.
"However, when it came to the Second Kazekage's turn to take a bride, he had already fallen in love with a kunoichi of average abilities. She would never have been able to pass all three trials of mental agility, physical strength and diplomacy as a top candidate – the requirement for choosing a Kazehime.
"Now, the Kazekage's sister happened to know of her brother's predicament, and she wanted him to be happy instead of being forced into a loveless marriage. She was a formidable woman herself, and under the guise of an advanced genjutsu, she entered the Kazehime Trials and came out as the top candidate in all three categories.
"When the Suna Council declared her the winner and the next Kazehime, she dropped her disguise and proclaimed that she could not marry her own brother. She then announced that as she now had the power of the Kazehime, she was free to choose a replacement for herself. Before the Suna Council could convene over the matter, she invoked her right as the Kazehime and named her brother's beloved as the new Kazehime instead.
"And they lived happily ever after. After the Council finally took back the kill-order on the Kazekage's sister, of course."
"I don't remember that last part," Kankurou frowned.
"As a kunoichi of Sunagakure, to pull such a stunt would have merited the death penalty," explained Temari, "and I just made that last part up anyway."
Shikamaru rubbed at his chin, then said to Temari, "Whether it is a story or actual history, the moment you appear at the Kazehime Trials with your fan, no genjutsu in the world will disguise you."
There was absolute silence in the tent for a good minute before Kankurou spoke up, "Ok, obviously we cannot try this stunt again because of Temari's huge-ass fan." He looked to Gaara, "How about throwing around some political weight to change the rules of the Kazehime Trials to allow Sakura to enter?"
"That's going to cause a revolt, at least, among the kunoichi's," noted Temari.
Kankurou clutched at his head and groaned, "Then what is the point of being the most powerful shinobi in the village if you cannot use it for your own good once in a while?"
"Because I have a responsibility to protect my village, including our way of life," Gaara replied quietly.
All this was starting to seem ridiculous to Shikamaru: here was the Kazekage who literally gave his life for his people, the first man to ever rally all Five Shinobi Nations against a singular threat, and he was going to martyr himself again for the greater good instead of protecting his own happiness; And it wasn't just his own, but Sakura's happiness.
Shikamaru raised a finger and was about to speak when he suddenly struck upon Temari's earlier words. His sudden stiffness of posture drew a concerned look from Temari.
"Shikamaru?" she asked
Shikamaru blinked, and shook his head in an attempt to slow down his thoughts that were running at the speed of light. Lowering his arm, he said to Temari, "Temari-san, tell me again about the qualifications for entering the Kazehime Trials."
Confused, she said, "Well, she obviously has to be a kunoichi, and she has to be in Suna."
"You said 'in' Suna, not 'from' Suna," Shikamaru stated more than asked her.
"Yes, that was what I sa…" Temari frowned, then oh so very slowly, her lips began to curl upwards, "Did you just spot a loophole, Shikamaru?"
Gaara's eyes widened as his attention was drawn to the conversation between the two; there was a strange feeling of hope rising from his chest, and he found that he liked the fluttery sensation that it invoked.
Shikamaru leaned against Gaara's desk, fingers clasped over his chin as he pondered the implications of what he had just learnt. If what Temari had said was really true, then it was simply a matter of getting Sakura into Suna at the time of the Kazehime Trials.
But it was still too early to feel relieved.
Strangely enough, it was Kankurou who finally gave Shikamaru the reason to stop worrying.
"Guys, I think it's just because Sunagakure is surrounded by an expansive desert, and even though I love my village, you have to admit that it isn't exactly the nicest place to move to if you want to start a new life," Kankurou chanced a glance at Gaara just to make sure he did not offend the Kazekage; elder brother or not, he was not certain if Gaara held him in higher regard than the village's reputation, "So maybe the previous Kazekage's married from within the village because there just weren't any visiting kunoichi who wanted to take part in the Trials."
Temari tilted her head, brows knitted as she added, "That is true. And there has never been any reason for other Shinobi Nations to propose a strategic alliance through a political marriage to date. But our little brother here has done the most unimaginable thing to date: he is leading an alliance between the Five Shinobi Nations against Akatsuki."
Everyone turned to face Gaara, who was now wearing the expression of someone deep in his thoughts.
Finally, he looked up and swept his gaze across the room's occupants before speaking, "We will not change the tradition of Sunagakure."
Temari gave a gasp of disbelief, and Shikamaru's fists were curled as he considered the very unwise decision of punching the Regimental Commander.
Noting their reactions, Gaara quickly lifted a hand up to ask for silence, then said, "The Kazekage will marry a kunoichi in Sunagakure, so Na… Shikamaru-san, perhaps you can arrange for Sakura to be in Sunagakure in time for the Kazehime Trials?"
Shikamaru paused, blinked once, then settled back into a lazy slouch against Gaara's desk; if there was one thing he disliked about Gaara, it was how he always managed to unsettle him with just words alone.
"I will talk to Hokage-sama and arrange for Sakura to travel to Sunagakure once I receive your orders for her to do so, Kazekage-sama."
"Good," Gaara rose to his feet, showing just the barest signs of strained effort, "I am certain that Sakura does not plan on becoming Kazehime in her immediate future, so let us now focus on the war at hand."
Temari placed her hand on Gaara's shoulder, and quite resolutely toppled him over back into his bed.
"We will help you run the Division for the next two days, Gaara. You, on the other hand, have orders from your girlfriend to rest and recuperate," Temari wagged a finger at him, "You don't want to make Sakura mad, now, do you?"
"Her temper is quite formidable," admitted Gaara.
It was akin to saying that Kabuto was just "a small fry", or Akatsuki was "a speck of dust".
Kankurou coughed into his fist, but it sounded oddly like "masochist" when he did.
"Do you want me to get you some of that tea before we leave?" asked Temari, gesturing to the warming pot on the stove.
Gaara scowled, "Just a cup, Temari. And leave it on my table."
Temari raised an eyebrow at her brother's strange behaviour towards a mere drink, but proceeded to pour him a cup anyway before they all left him to rest.
As the three of them walked out into the sunlight, Kankurou gestured to Shikamaru's feet and said, "Hey, Shikamaru, why is Fluffy still with you?"
Shikamaru looked down, and saw that the purring sand-cat was indeed walking alongside him. When he stopped in his steps, the cat moved in front of him and quietly dropped the piece of orange fabric onto the ground.
The Nara prodigy bent over to pick it up, and uttered a confused-sounding, "Er, thanks?"
The sand-cat swished its tail once, then walked back into the tent.
Shikamaru wondered if the sand-cat was thanking him for helping salvage Gaara and Sakura's future together, but cats are and always would remain a mystery to him.
"So, Shikamaru," Temari began suddenly, her voice a little too light and airy to bode anything good, "When were you going to tell me that you used to date Sakura?"
"WHAT?" Kankurou yelled, "And Gaara didn't murder you for that?"
Noting the number of shinobi glancing in the direction of their little commotion, Shikamaru could only come to one conclusion:
He should have never gotten out of bed that morning.