A/N: AAAAAAARGH! I'M SO FRUSTRATED!!! Anyhow…So, I was sitting around, alone, and I started thinking. I mean, every decent Naruto author must have written a Gaara-centric angsty/romantic (I chose romantic, but maybe a tiny, tiny fraction of angst may be detected) fic, since he's such an interesting character and easy to bend without making him OOC (Maybe this isn't Gaara-centric, but Gaara's the main character). He is one of my favorites, too. I made a Konoha/Naruto-centric one with morning settings, so I figured this should be/start at night. And, Gaara's an insomniac, so he must be up. Yay, his non-existent sleep is making this so much easier for me. Also, this plot bunny kept bugging me, and I thought, well, I don't think I've ever read anything like this so let's do it.
Disclaimer:I don't really feel the need to say anything.Masashi Kishimoto made me sign a contract; never to try and steal anything he owned again since the time I grabbed Itachi and made a run for it. He was mad…
Pairings: GaaLee, snuggly, ShikaTema and mentions of some very minor implied SasuNaru, KanKiba and KibaHina too… ;)
Warnings: There will be a slightly silly plot. I guess the cussing must be M-rated, unfortunately. Shounen ai/yaoi. You have been warned. Don't like boyxboy, click the back button. Minor fluff. MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven't read till 247 in the manga.
Notice: This is a TWO-SHOT and it'll remain that way if no one asks for it to evolve into a multichap fic. Review and tell me, love it, hate it or if you wanna give me some pointers. Well… Itadakimasu!
Notice II: OMFGWTFBBRFFSLOLROFLBBQW00T!!! This chapter has been edited and fixed up by Makayla! Little darling. ;P
Gaara sat on the roof of the round Kazekage building in Sunagakure. The sun had just set, and the pink seeped away to be replaced with irrevocable black. The time would be somewhere around seven-ish, and there were still families crowding the streets.
The former Jinchūriki looked down at the city beneath him. Bits and pieces of the festival that had held place there two days ago were still visible. The usual dull sand-coloured houses sparkled with glints of rainbow-coloured confetti. Somewhere, underneath the sand dunes, used and unused fire crackers surely lay, and would scare the life out of the poor person stepping on it.
We weren't at that festival, were we? We were in our office, working. We never have any fun, no… We never have any free time anymore.
It was a long time ago since he'd had some time to himself. He never slept, of course, but he was always flooded with work, and though people thought he never did any paperwork, he did. Too much of it. There was never enough time to go slow, never time to relax. It was always "sign this", or "read that". He loved protecting the village, but solving petty, barely-worth-calling-disputes, disputes tested his patience.
GaAra rubbed his eyes and blinked. His sight adjusted to night-vision and he tried to recognize anyone walking down the streets. There was a battered-down old woman being dragged behind an obnoxious-looking kid like a doll. Three teen boys – no older than his self – checking out a blonde girl, who threw a flirtatious glance their way only to get snatched by the elbow by a rather rough-looking man. Two middle-aged women walking side by side, hands occupied with bags filled to the rim with groceries, chatting merrily.
It occurred to Gaara that, yes, he could see them, but he didn't know them. He would refer to them as the villagers and they would refer to him as the Kazekage. No face was really familiar. He wanted them to be, but some people in Sunagakure still shied away from him, even though Shukaku was gone.
We didn't like Shukaku, did we? No, he kept pushing us around. We want control of our own body, don't we, Gaara-kun?
In Konohagakure it was different. There, so many people would greet him with a hello. Sure, everyone here respected him and acted courteous towards him but there he was among friends, those who wanted to be with him.
He closed his heavily painted eyes and allowed his head to fall down, resting on his knees. The gourd on his back felt heavy, heavier than usual. Thinking of Konoha made him remember so many things; brought mixed feelings to his attention. The Chuunin exams six years ago. The attack on the Leaf Village. His defeat when battling Naruto Uzumaki in the forest, the very thing he had thought of as impossible.
So many memories.
Memories that were precious to him. His childhood was close to erased in his head; a past he wanted nothing to do with, that only brought pain to the surface. A past where even his siblings had shielded themselves from him and his monstrous ways. A past where he had been left to wallow further in his sorrow. How much of their actions had been theirs, and how much had been their father's influence, Gaara could never tell. It was unnecessary to open old wounds for something he dreaded to know anyhow.
The harsh wind blew sand around him and made his clothes dance.
The hours passed but Gaara didn't notice. There was something so peaceful in the air, numbing his senses. The streets were empty now. Everyone was probably home, spending the remaining hours of the day with their families.
Gaara was suddenly struck with an idea.
He jumped off the roof with cat-like grace and landed with a soft 'thud' on the ground. Walking at a fast pace, the red head made his way to the Kazekage office. There wasn't much time left of the nightly hours, but his preparations didn't have to take much time if he could just find the right documents in that damned achieve. How that achieve was organized, the redhead just couldn't understand. Nothing was where it supposedly could be. Alphabetically, theoretically, cross referenced, it was impossible to find anything.
Maybe he should get a new secretary. Satoshi tended to be a little less down to earth than most… creatures residing on the planet Earth. But he was so cute with his glasses and unusual blue hair…
"Now, little brother, pray tell. Why would you drag us here at this time of the day?" Temari asked sternly, directing her aquamarine gaze at her younger sibling.
It was six thirty on a Sunday. Gaara supposed he could endure some of her whining, but if she crossed the line he would have to force her to be quiet by intimidation. He wasn't proud of his ability to push his big sister off her high chair, but it was very useful. From one point of view – which Temari did not share with him – she was only his subordinate and he was only the Kazekage.
"It must be something important, right?" Kankurou said, him too adopting the older sibling roll.
Gaara couldn't take his brother seriously, partly because Kankurou was always cracking inappropriate jokes and just wasn't a very serious person, and partly because even though the 'Kazekage' had sent for them this early, he still had his 'face paint' splashed across his face in that offensive purple color.
"Yes, I believe it is." Gaara paused, and lifted his hand, currently holding a scroll, for the remaining parts of his family to see. Believe it or not, with the help of seven sand clones he had found the document in a little less than five hours.
Kankurou stared at it while Temari's expression darkened somewhat, as if suspicious that the scroll contained some ancient summoning jutsu to call upon the forbidden element. That had only happened once, and that scroll had been burned almost as soon as it was found. Gaara would think Temari was a bit unnerved, because she had been on guard duty protecting the ancient forbidden scroll. Her nerves had failed on her because the whole village could be annihilated in the blink of an eye if she lost it to an enemy village.
"What is that?" It seemed the fan-wielding kunoichi had decided she was disapproving of the scroll, whatever the contents may be. She made a grab for it but a protective glove of hardened sand shielded the scroll.
"This is a document."
Gaara stuck the scroll down the leg holster of his left leg and zipped the pouch closed. Both of the Sand siblings refrained from trying to get more information out of him, deeming it an unnecessary action. Possibly because both of them could acquire severe injuries.
"It must be signed by the Fifth Hokage, currently located in Konohagakure. We will begin our journey there in one hour, and stay there for two days before departing again. We will meet up at the gates to double checking all packing in fifty minutes."
It wasn't a request, but it wasn't an order either. It was more of a fact, an afterthought.
Both of them lightened up when hearing their destination.
The insomniac silently congratulated himself. Of course he knew the siblings attachments to the other village. Kankurou had developed a rather peculiar friendship with a slightly obscene boy, what was his name…? The one Naruto defeated in the preliminary round during the Chuunin exams… Something about dogs so Inu… Inuzuka… Kiba Inuzuka. That was the one.
Gaara couldn't say he hadn't seen it coming. Those boys had so much in common it was almost ridiculous. Same lame, underage perverted humor, the same garish face-paint, (they even had similar colours!) and both of them preferred to fight a battle alongside with someone or something, may it be a dog or a puppet.
Also his older sister Temari; Gaara was surprised that she thought he actually didn't know she was 'secretly' dating that shadow wielder- and had been for the past two years. Also something really important must have happened maybe a month ago. She was so abnormally happy and content with everything around that time. You would have to be both blind and deaf not to see it.
Therefore, he pitied the Konoha shadow's friends, who obviously were oblivious to their love affair. Of course when Gaara had first worked it out, he had been so furious he had had to cancel all the Kazekage duties from that day and go out in the desert to let out some steam. In the sand, there was nothing he could – accidentally, or less accidentally – kill but the angering visions of his sister and that lazy shinobi.
After his little session of total rage, he came up with the conclusion that this Nara boy wasn't so bad after all. He was intelligent enough for two, and could come through when it really mattered (Naruto had been angry with the cloud gazer because of the Akatsuki battle with Hidan, so Gaara knew the story by heart). Fairly attractive, an excellent shinobi and he must have some other good social qualities too; otherwise Temari would have been done with him pretty quickly.
Back in his private bedroom, Gaara walked around and gathered things he would take with him to the Land of Fire. Mostly different changes of clothing and weapons. One particular full outfit in the closet riddled him. He could not remember buying it nor wearing it.
It was a black linen that by the looks of it would fit his slim frame quite snugly. Along with it hung a tie with red and black stripes, the knot already tied around the hanger's neck. In the tie knot hung a lacy object which Gaara guessed was a – again too tight for comfort – fishnet shirt with long sleeves.
Underneath on a hook hung a black pair of jeans that, with Gaara's measurements, would reach a little below his kneecaps and it'd restrict his movement quite effectively. They looked about three sizes smaller than every pair of pants he had ever owned. A black belt was already in it, with three rows of what looked like silver nails, and the pocket bulged a little. He reached in and tugged at the object, which apparently was more than one. Five bracelets looking much like the belt. Pushing the pocket down in the pants again, Gaara studied the outfit a while.
We'd look edible in that, wouldn't we, Kazekage-sama?
As the Kazekage, it would be scandalous dressing that provocatively (because, no doubt, he'd look shockingly sexy in that). But in Konoha, he could be a bystander, a visitor, a villager. And he would want to catch the attention of a certain taijutsu expert shinobi. So after an impulse minute of thinking, he pressed the outfit down in his small backpack.
When the given hour was spent, the Sand ninjas met up at the gate. Temari immediately asked if Gaara had consulted with the counsel about his absence for a week. The younger simply slipped her a piece of paper which forced the kunoichi to stop interrogating about anything concerning their disappearance and to continue checking the packing.
The 10x7 centimeter note consisted all the information she could possible bug him about or try to use as a blackmailing option. Gaara had two month ago requested a week off to attend the yearly spring fair in Konoha, but had been caught up in serious matters at home. Kankurou had been found in a cave near the outskirts of the desert, heavily infiltrated with a spider like poison. He recovered quickly in the hospital bed and was up before diagnosed to be. A thorough investigation had been made, but all was for naught. There was no trace of the enemy ninja whatsoever.
But that week off was still available, and had been lying around in his top drawer in his bedside table. When that Konoha impulse kicked in, it was pleasant to already have been through the long and boring meetings about it.
"Okay. We're ready to go." Kankurou said, heaving his brown backpack onto his back.
Temari threw her red haired brother a teasing glance after checking his backpack.
"Glad to see that you're finally decided to socialize with normal people. I hope my birthday present will be of good use when roping your victim in."
She lifted her shoulder bag and slung it across her frame, turning to follow the middle child.
So that's why we don't remember buying those clothes at all, isn't that right, Gaara-sama?
He frowned. What kind of sister sets her brother up so that he can get laid? Definitely not normal ones.
She's not young and tomboyish anymore. We wish she could be a bit less perverted and more naïve, we do.
The thick clumps of trees slowly decreased into an opening.
Konohagakure. End destination.
And they'd made pretty good time too. A trip that would usually take at least seventy two hours only took fifty six. It was two hours after sunrise, so almost the whole day was theirs to spend on less important matters, such as socializing. Possibly because the person most authorized to boss the two older siblings around, Gaara, had been blazing his glare of death into their backs whenever they'd started slacking.
They had not liked it.
However, that was of little importance. Temari was going to chew him out for making them escort him anyhow. A great distraction for that was probably to give her some time to stroll around the village without the company of her siblings. Gaara could take a guess where she would go.
He would have to find a way to lure Kankurou away from her, he knew of Temari's beau too (although only because Gaara had told him). Naturally he was still more in the big brother mode, "You look at my sister, I break your back" and would not likely leave her side willingly knowing what she would undoubtedly do if left alone.
Maybe he could slip him a questionable large amount of money when Temari wasn't present. That would be an easy alternative, since he'd most certainly go out clubbing and drinking until he'd pass out... probably in a gutter… alongside that Inuzuka kid.
When they walked inside, they were greeted at the entrance by two men named Kotetsu and Izumo, which he faintly remembered from the Chuunin exams. At that time though, they had henged into teen boys instead of the grown men they were.
The three siblings walked on the village street towards the Hokage building under silence. Not that Gaara was uncomfortable, but the other two were probably itching to go away and enjoy their stay here with different people.
However, when they turned a corner, a lot of familiar faces stood in a group talking. Team ten: Shikamaru, the blond girl and the fat boy. With Naruto and Sasuke, verbally sparring- of course; that pink-haired medical kunoichi was there too, keeping them apart.
Gaara clenched his fists in fury, drawing blood.
We don't like that girl, no, we don't like her. We could hate that girl, couldn't we, Kazekage-sama? We could kill that girl easily, couldn't we, Kazekage-sama?
Kiba and the bug boy were there. The two Hyuugas was there, that girl Temari wasted in the Chuunin preliminary rounds was there, and… Rock Lee was there too, trying to convince Naruto and Sasuke not to start a fight in the middle of the village. Then he started to talk with Haruno Sakura, who laughed, landed a final punch on Naruto's head and resumed talking with Konoha's green beast.
That medical kunoichi was so close to him. Why was she, again? Why was that ugly bitch so close to Lee? She wasn't worthy of breathing the same air he breathed.
If we broke her spine, she wouldn't be so close to Lee anymore, would she, Gaara-kun?
Gaara collected himself, feeling ashamed. He wasn't supposed to think like that. She was a human and was allowed to do whatever she wanted.
But if her bosom got any closer to Lee's chest he'd bury her in sand and crush her bones to a pile of dust.
Shikamaru was the one who noticed the Sand siblings first.
"Oi. Yo." was his hello, and a hand lazily rose in the air, supposedly to be a wave but apparently he couldn't muster enough willpower to do such an unnecessary thing.
All of them turned around.
"GAARA!"
"GAARA–SAMA!"
"YO, KANKUROU!"
The first one was of course Naruto, and closely after him… Lee. He still had his bowl cut, and he still had fuzzy eyebrows and he still wore that green suit, having added a green jacket on top of it. It was his facial features that had changed, been perfected. The chiseled face had grown into the haircut and all other wrong things fashion-wise to be beautiful. He just wished he'd call him 'Gaara' instead of feeling the need to add 'sama' so he wouldn't anger him. Or maybe he was this formal with everyone? The idea of that being the situation made Gaara, if possible, even more annoyed. He really wanted Lee to treat him differently than everyone else. Also, Gaara could tell Lee held back in the touching zone when it came to him too. Not that Gaara could actually blame him… When Lee had broken through his sand armor and kicked him during the preliminary rounds, Gaara had seriously tried to kill him.
The Inuzuka kid went up and started a conversation with his brother immediately, and Temari stood her ground against the very obvious impulse to go over to the shadow-nin. Gaara was pleased with both actions. Kankurou would now not need money to spend time with that dog boy, and Temari wasn't going to act like a school girl. Perfect.
"Gaara! Why are you here?" Naruto asked, bouncing up to him and giving him a hug. The redhead icily accepted the hug but did no movements to return the favor. One, because he wasn't that comfortable with people yet, though he was trying to be. Two, because a very faint pinkish hue had started spreading over a certain Sharingan-user's cheeks. So to keep himself out of any unnecessary battles he did nothing.
"I am here to deal with a few political issues with the Godaime." he answered, dusting something imaginary off his shoulder.
He shot his siblings a glance.
"You may spend the rest of the day here in whatever way you wish. You have hotel rooms reserved for you, but if you would prefer to stay the night somewhere else, that is acceptable." Gaara said, turning towards the Hokage building and started walking.
His older sibling seemed shocked at his implications, however the one with make-up took no notice and happily started talking to Kiba and Tenten. The kunoichi shrugged it off and went over to join the conversation going on between the team ten ninjas.
Temari had finally managed to escape the others along with Shikamaru without anyone taking notice. She was ecstatic when… well; Temari didn't get ecstatic, but at least thrilled when Gaara told them they were travelling to Konoha for a day. She was less pleased with the fact that she had a little more than twenty four hours to spend with her new fiancé. He had actually popped the question a month ago, but hadn't declared anything to their separate and shared friends yet, as they couldn't calculate their reactions.
But two things she still didn't understand. One; why had Gaara brought Kankurou and herself? It was now transparent that he knew about them (How much did he know?), and seemed perfectly fine about it. The fan wielding woman would have thought he'd go ballistic and plot a scheme to kill Shikamaru. But nothing. He had implied they could do whatever they wanted. And why did he bring Kankurou? Did her stoic little brother bring him just because it was unfitting socially to leave him at home, or did he have something going on too?
Two; what was that scroll? If it had to be signed by the Hokage, it must be something that would include both villages. They were already allies, so a treaty would be stupid. It couldn't be a gift of some kind, since it was something to sign, not to accept.
Temari shook her head in confusion and snuggled closer to her fiancé under the tree a little bit outside Konoha.
God, Kankurou had missed this.
They never visited Konoha enough. Guess Gaara got out of his hissy fit and decided to actually do something else but lock himself in his office and do paperwork. Fuck, he sat at least sixteen hours a day with those mountains of documents. He could let loose a little.
He took a big zip of the beer in his left hand and observed Kiba and that Hyuuga girl next to him. They were sitting so close, and the pale girl was blushing prettily, eyeing the ground. Kiba was laughing, probably over some joke he cracked. She put a hand on his arm, and a faint blush spread across the dog lover's cheeks. Why was it always that she was just above him? It wasn't fair. They may have been on the same team a few years ago, but him and Kiba had been through pretty much everything! It just wasn't fair! Kiba had told him they didn't start hanging out together a year after their team had been designed. She didn't have any interest in him before! Why now when Kankurou had finally…
Kankurou shook his head roughly. He was not thinking these thought at all. Nope.
This bar (the name was Buraindo Koigokoro) was always a great place to go whenever you wanted life to sparkle just a bit more. It was quiet and peaceful now, but at nightfall it'd turn into a dancing inferno. Of course, alcohol slowly destroyed your body, so Kankurou watched his drinks extra carefully. It was maybe a month ago since he'd gotten so drunk he couldn't walk on his own. But, luckily, Yuuichi had been there to drag his sorry ass home.
That had been one sweet night. Someone must have slipped something in his colourful drink, 'cause those things just didn't happen with just beer. Not that it really bothered him, since he was still alive and breathing. He suspected he might have gotten laid, but could not make out the fuzzy memories.
Now, he wondered what that scroll contained…
Those thoughts were quickly annihilated when Kiba grabbed him by the elbow, shouting something into his face sounding very much like gossip. He was so close. Kankurou felt sparks of electricity shoot up his arm.
But that must've been the alcohol.
Right.
Right?
Gaara walked out of the Hokage building, pleased. Not only had he managed to make a more compact treaty with the Konoha village, but he also succeeded in doing something nice for Temari, even though she didn't knew it yet. He often messed up; not knowing what would make the very different girl happy. But now he was sure he'd hit the sweet spot. This would make up for all the little things he should have done since… forever!
Tsunade-hime had been nice enough about it, almost eager.
The Kazekage had one copy of the document, while the Hokage had one in her archive which was a little tidier than his. Shizune-san was more organized than Satoshi, he could give her that. Their personalities were very alike, even though sometimes Satoshi could drift off into la-la land. He made up for than with his overly kind attitude. And even so, the blue haired boy in Suna was just a little bit easier on the eyes than the rough medi-nin.
Gaara spoke into the short distance radio fastened on his neck.
"Kankurou, Temari."
After a few seconds he got a mutual response; "Hai."
"My purpose for this trip have been finished and – "
A loud groan echoed throughout the radio speakers.
"No! I don't want to leave! We've been here an hour, Gaara! I don't want to leave! I won't leave. You said we wouldn't leave – "
Gaara quickly lost interest in what his brother was guessing he was implying. Using his deathly tone, he said; "Kankurou."
His older brother stopped talking, but his heavy breathing could still be detected. He was out with Inuzuka then. Hn. Gaara would have to look further into that, because that guard dog could maybe be… unfitting to socialize with his brother in a more intimate way. He was too blunt and inconsiderate of others feelings.
Yeah. And we're such geniuses when it comes to other people's feelings, aren't we, ne, Gaara?
"If you wish to acquire knowledge of the document's contents, you will come to the hotel room we are currently residing in."
He guessed only Temari was curious enough to tear herself from whatever she was doing to come see the document. Something he had foreseen already and fitted his scheme perfectly.
Gaara strolled along the street, reaching the Sen Susuwatari Inn and did not receive his suite key, seeing as it was already in the hands of his roommate.
"Your companion is already upstairs." the old woman behind the counter added as an afterthought when he gave her a degrading look.
Gaara smirked. Of course she was. Where else?
He walked up and turned the bronze door knob and opened the door.
"The document. What was it?"
Temari had flown into his face, tone impatient and slightly red. Maybe she had hurried here a bit more than necessary.
Her younger brother held the scroll out for her, motioning her to take it. Ripping it from his hand, she opened it and began reading through it very slowly. The corners of his mouth went up ever so little.
"Think of it as a birthday present."
The document was rather long, so Gaara lost his patience and simply tore it from her hand and stuffed down in his leg holster.
"Hey! I didn't get to read the whole thing! What the hell does that thing mean?!"
Gaara smiled a very, very tiny smile.
"It enables marriage between our village and theirs."
Her jaw would have hit the floor with a 'clunk' if she's been animated. Quickly, she collected herself and tried to stare him down, suddenly hostile. Gaara didn't stop smiling and she faltered slightly. You could almost see the cogs in her brain working.
Temari opened her mouth, and then closed it again.
Gaara blinked.
She inhaled deeply and seemed to gather her damaged image.
"But… Why would you do that?"
"Simple." He paused. "You want to, don't you?"
The Kazekage waited for his older sister to nod feebly. She kept staring at the leg holster on his left leg hiding the document. Gaara started to feel very insecure about his little initiative, though he didn't let her know that. The feeling that Temari wasn't happy with the gift started to creep into Gaara's veins, spreading throughout his body. What if she thought he was pushing her? What if she thought this was some kind of duty or mission he would force her into? He had not thought this through. She would be mad, she'd hate him, she'd run away, he'd be alone again. He couldn't be alone anymore. Why didn't he think this through?! There was just no way she would be happy about this! Temari liked to be in control of her own life, and hated it when people made decisions for her. She hated accepting things, gifts from others and giving nothing in return. She would go insane with rage. She'd hate him. God!
Maybe we fucked up this time, do you think, Gaara-sama?
"Gaara… I don't know what to say."
He'd be more comfortable if she had just ripped his heart out, stomped on it and sliced into small pieces to use as fertilizer. How was he supposed to analyze that answer? There was no way, there was no how?
"How did you know he proposed last month?"
WHAT? That good for nothing lazy bum actually thought our sister would wed him?!
Of course he would think so, they love each other.
But he's so useless! He come's through when it matters.
We know this, don't we, Gaara-kun?
Yeah, maybe we do. But we don't have to be happy about it, do we?
No, we don't, but we have to be happy for her. Okay, for the time being, we will cooperate.
Gaara blinked a few times, his brain trying to dissolve this piece of information. Well, he should have guessed. What else?
"I didn't." Temari blushed. "I do now, though."
Gaara raised a finger to his temple, pose mocking. "Now, how come you neglected to tell me of this occurrence?"
Temari nervously dragged her hand through her blond locks, a force of habit she couldn't shake when faced with fear. Gaara inwardly winced; he didn't want her to be scared. He merely wanted her to talk. Was he really that bad?
"Well, I just… I thought you'd… It just didn't come up, that's all." She brushed a strand of hair out of her beautiful face. Gaara studied her. The outline of her lips, the eyes darting from the floor, to him, only to stare at the floor again. He'd tone it down a little, this intimidation thing. Apparently it dug through her surface and chilled her insides.
"Okay."
Silence.
A knife wouldn't be enough to cut the tension. A chainsaw would break in two by the mere closeness of the tension. Temari's sharp fan would buckle under the pressure of the tension. Goddammit, how did he manage to create this… thing anyway?!
Suddenly, Temari's aura turned mischievous. "So… Who's your object of affection that you are going to seduce here?"
The kunoichi's stance changed from defense to strong offense. Gaara wanted to shrink away, but his pride made him stand tall (even if she was only five, six centimeters shorter than him).
"I do not know what you are talking about, aneki."
"Bullshit!" Temari laughed, erasing all former tension, bouncing forward and wrapping an arm around his slim shoulders. "Who? Tell me, or I'll get serious."
"You didn't deem your fiancé fit to mention to me. Why should I divulge you this piece of personal information? Give me one reasonable reason, and I will."
Temari scratched her chin, squinting at him in concentration.
"Because I'm your sister and you love me so much?"
Yeah, we don't think so, sis.
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd go for that either. Maybe… Because I'm curious?"
Nope. We think you'll have to do better than that.
"Because… I can help you out!" Temari pronounced proudly as she had discovering the wheel for the first time.
Well… We will consider her offer.
No, come on, we should take up on it! Onee-chan's good!
We think that she could dislike the fact that it's a male, and foremost, she would defiantly laugh if we said it's Lee.
No, she wouldn't laugh at us! But she wouldn't help us. Yes she would! We will consider her offer, let us settle at that.
Okay, we will settle for that now, but if she asks again later, we will accept. That's a deal.
"Temari…" Gaara begun, a sigh lingering in his throat. Why couldn't he like someone Temari would look up to, not spit on?
If Temari was a chibi, her eyes would have been replaced with pink hearts shining disturbingly bright.
"No, come on! I could be your matchmaker! I'd figure out what she thinks of you and –"
She came to an abrupt stop when noticing the minor change in Gaara's green eyes. In horror she bit her lip and put her hands on her face, shielding her blush. Obviously, she had noted his discomfort.
"Oh my god, I'm so stupid. It's not a girl, is it?"
"No."
Again, if Temari had been a chibi, her eyes would be on fire now.
"Well, now you have to tell me! Who is it?! All the Konoha boys are so sexy! Oh my God, you have to tell me!"
Gaara felt as if she'd punched the air out of her lungs. She was even more excited. Perfect. Now she'd be so disappointed with his answer. She thought nothing of Lee other than that he was a bit eccentric, annoying, loud, disturbing and so on and so forth. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her for that. At first, he had thought the taijutsu expe rt had been more than just a minor annoyance; Lee had actually bothered him so much he wanted the jump suit boy dead. It was very different now, wasn't it? Not to Temari though. She probably thought he was a dimwit who was just as stupid as his bloody insane sensei.
"No, I will not tell you. End of discussion. Now, I would like to be present when you announce to Nara Shikamaru that your wedding will be possible. That is, if you plan to tell him at all. You seem to think of yourself as a secretive, scheming woman, which you are not." Gaara smirked. "You are free to leave if you wish."
Temari walked to the door, the large fan adorning her thin back. "Alright, I'll let you of the hook for now. But at the party later, I'll force it out of you."
That's funny, we thought she said party. She didn't though, did she?
Gaara tilted his head, eye twitching in minor annoyance.
"Aneki." Temari stopped out in the hall, popping her head back in.
"Turn. Come back. Explain."
"So, Uzumaki wanted a party, another excuse for these bums to get drunk, and he forced Uchiha to let it be in his mansion. It'll start around nighttime. I'll come here in… five hours maybe to doll you up, okay?"
When Gaara didn't answer, Temari grinned. "Ja ne."
With that, she took of.
Yes, we wish she could be less blunt about things, don't we, Gaara-chan?
The five hours had passed without Gaara even noticing, too caught up in thought. Gaara liked silence. It was nice and quiet.
Until Temari came bursting through the door.
"Ohayo otouto! Are you ready to be dressed up?" Temari yelled loudly, Shikamaru trailing her like the more or less whipped man he was. Gaara didn't know if Temari managed to bend him after her will, or if the Konoha shadow just didn't care enough about anything to oppose her.
"No." he answered, and if he hadn't been the fearsome Sabaku no Gaara, people would have thought he was sulking. But he was, so there was no hint of sulking noticed.
"Well, let's get started then."
Shikamaru grabbed her shoulder, halting her. The redhead was a little relived. She was his sister and he loved her, but right now he was just a little scared of her. She turned to look at her man, looking dubious.
"You troublesome woman. Don't you think you are trampling his male pride right now?
"Gaara have a lot. He could handle a small loss like this." She pecked the shadow wielder on the cheek and turned to her little brother. "Where is your backpack?"
"Nowhere." he answered, though it was plainly in sight on his bed, untouched and not so unpacked.
"I'm going to get the things I need, so sit down on something comfortable while I pick out your clothes."
"I assume you boss your fiancé around a bit less than this?" Gaara taunted, smirking slightly.
"I don't need to." she answered from inside the bathroom. "Now, sit down and shut up."
"I will punish you with a never-ending stream of C-ranked missions far away from Konoha if you don't lay off that superior act."
Temari stuck her head out of the door, smiling. "Ah, that must mean I can doll you up without complains then?"
"You will be quiet. I will complain about it. Does that sound good?" Gaara answered lightly, and held back a sigh. He wanted help, sure, but this was below his dignity. With that Nara boy here too, his humiliation doubled, maybe tripled.
Shikamaru didn't look even a little bit uneasy at the situation.
"You seem to have a very healthy sibling relationship, then." he said to Gaara, starting a conversation.
"Healthy and blossoming. Does she do this to you?"
"Nah, she mostly gets pissed because I just don't care and doesn't resist, so she's the lower status in this relationship."
"Don't make me come out there and hurt you, Nara!" was heard from the bathroom, and a second later Temari in person emerged with her arms filled.
She threw the bundle of clothes (which she'd bought, mind you) she was carrying at him, hitting him in the chest and falling into his lap.
In her other arm, an emerald cosmetic bag rested comfortably. Most people would say; if Temari knew what was good for her, she'd let the bag be where it was. Of course, Temari knew something they didn't know.
"That is what you'll wear –"
"No."
"– and I'll fix the make up when you're dressed so I can match."
"No."
"Stop being such a baby about everything! Now, get changed!"
We should have revoked her right to exist on the face of earth a long time ago, don't you think, Kazekage-sama?
A/N: DAMN, fifteen pages! I never thought I could actually do it! Okay, so I am quite pleased with the way this turned out. I had fun toying around with Gaara's inner thought's (the one's in italic), and I liked the fast that he referred to himself as 'we'. Anyway, the other half should be out in a couple of days. I am quite… well, insecure, so I'm guessing that some people will go "Don't pollute with your god awful writing skills and bad grammar", but hey, it's my second language, I admit, I'm not an expert. But I like writing things; it's something fun to do while home alone sick (which I am right now. The inside of my throat is filled with these nasty white blisters and I cough phlegm. Nice). Cookies and cash for reviewers, they're in the bottom drawer! XD