A/N: Kinda tied to the last drabble? I guess? Apparently I'm just in the mood to shut down all the Gaara trash talkers

XXIII. Screw You

It wasn't just random people on the street who tried to "warn" Harley about Gaara when she was seen with him. Some of the Suna elders attempted this as well, albeit only one time.

Even though they were on board with the plan to eventually make him Kazekage (as a means of controlling him, of course), they still felt uneasy about him having a friend. If anything were to happen to her on account of him, it would be a terrible look for the village.

There was a heated argument between Harley and a few obnoxious elders one night when they caught her alone, with the infamous Joseki as the spokesperson.

"He would never hurt me," she snarled. "What do you people know? If anything, he keeps me safe."

"He is a threat with a dangerous power living inside of him. When he wants to kill, it doesn't matter who it is. He even killed his own uncle several years ago!"

"I know. I was there. And I bet you don't have the slightest clue of what actually happened."

"The point is that he's killed people!"

"Who do you think forced him to do that?!" she yelled. "And don't pretend that any of you guys are innocent in that regard!"

"Don't you realize that we're being generous in giving him the opportunity to prove himself? If he wants to become Kazekage like he says, we must avoid any incidents at all costs. We're asking you to stay away from him."

"You're cracked if you think that'll ever happen!"

Joseki sighed.

"If you refuse, we'll need you to sign a waiver, relieving the village of any and all responsibility should anything happen to you."

"I'll sign whatever you want," she snarled without hesitation. "Give me the damn paper."

The elders backed off after that. Their attitudes actually shifted after Gaara took office and the two started dating. They figured it was a good look for him and would make the villagers less afraid of him if he had a nice, pretty girl by his side. He would seem like less of a monster. They also recognized her productivity as an admin to be a valuable asset. So they let her stay.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

All these years later, after Gaara protected the village from Deidara, had Shukaku extracted, played a huge part in the Great Shinobi War, was making Suna more prosperous than ever before… and Joseki was still complaining.

The other stubborn elders had come to accept Gaara. They could still be unpleasant, sure, but they had no malice towards him. It was just Joseki.

Gaara was out of town on business, and Harley was hanging out with Yukata at a coffee stall right by the estate.

"And then, we went to the Hidden Waterfall Village," Yukata said, showing Harley a picture on her phone. "Look how pretty!"

Gaara was doing such an incredible job with the village's welfare that, even just one year after the war, it wasn't uncommon for everyone to have cell phones and other fancy technology.

"I've been telling Gaara we've got to visit there one of these days," Harley said.

"Oh, your next romantic getaway?!" Yukata asked excitedly.

"Heh, who knows… first we'd both have to, you know, be able to get away at all."

"You guys have been so busy this last year, with all the reconstructing and everything. It's like you live in your offices now."

"Peace and prosperity don't come cheap," she joked.

Suddenly, an angry male voice came from Yukata's phone.

"It's simply unbelievable that he's lasted this long!" the voice said.

"Oh? Oh! Sorry," Yukata said apologetically. "I must've left my audio recorder in the conference room the other day during my meeting with Sensei. It must've picked up on someone's voice and turned back on, so it's coming through to my phone. Hold on, I'll turn it off."

"No, wait…" Harley interjected, leaning in closer to listen.

"I don't care what anyone says. That Gaara does not, and never has, had any right to be the leader of this village!" the voice continued.

"Calm down, Joseki," another voice said. "What are you suddenly so upset about? Gaara has long proven himself."

"Making him Kazekage in the first place was just supposed to be an experiment! He's always just been an experiment and nothing more! So why is he still here?! Lord Fourth would've never approved!"

"Shukau was extracted a long time ago. You know this."

"So what? Did Gaara lose any power after the extraction? No! You've all gone soft! The people may respect him, but I still don't trust that boy! Any day now, he could turn on us. What would we do then? I tell you, I'd finally be able to sleep peacefully at night if we locked him up and kept him in confinement like in the days of Bunpuku."

Shooting up at the speed of light and knocking the stool over, Harley stormed over to the estate and shoved the doors open.

"Harley, wait!" Yukata called out, clumsily running behind her. "What are you gonna say?"

She raced through the halls and up the many flights of stairs, as fast as her high heels would physically allow her, seeing red. The voices of the elders could be heard down the hall. One would think they would've kept the doors closed when discussing a topic of this nature.

Joseki's back was facing the doorway as she entered, still rambling.

"If no one else locks him up, I'll do it myself!"

Harley grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and promptly punched him in the face. He fell to the ground, looking up at her with blood dripping and acting as if he was in any way shocked that Gaara's girlfriend would be furious at what he was saying.

She gave him a death glare; her eyes burning into his skill with pure rage, before turning back around and exiting without a word.

Yukata saved the audio recording as evidence. Joseki was fired shortly after.

A/N: 100% based on a scene from Love Rosie. Been a HC for a lot of years now. Kankuro wanted to punch this guy that one time during Shippuden. Harley actually does it.