Summary: Karuna Sasaki finally gets her interview for the position of the Kazekage's aide. She has been training her whole life for this job. What she hasn't trained for is the Kazekage's teal blue eyes burning holes into her heart.

A/N- Thanks for choosing to read my story! This is something I have wanted to write for a long time. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto world or any characters in Naruto. I only own my plot line and my Own Characters.

Chapter 1- The Interview

I slowly walked towards the large dome shaped building. It was sand colored, but then again what wasn't sand colored in the Hidden Sand Village? The building had rows of windows and the kanji for wind on the side. I tried not to think of the fact that I was walking towards the Kazekage's Office.

As I neared the door I took a deep breath, trying to push down my nerves. Normally I didn't get nervous for anything, but this was extremely important. I opened the door and walked in.

The main entrance hallway had a few decorations on the walls. On the right side of the hallway was an office open by a half wall. A friendly looking lady sat behind a desk in the office. I walked up to the lady smiling and said, "Hello miss, I'm here for an interview for the position of the Kazekage's aide. Do you know where I'm supposed to go?"

The lady smiled at me. I noticed her desk had a name plate, "Tenzi Akima." "Ah yes, Temari-sama mentioned that earlier. Go down the hall and it's the second door on the right. Temari-sama and Kankuro-sama are waiting for you."

"Thank you Tenzi-san," I said sincerely and she waved 'good-bye'. I walked down the hallway, taking in my surroundings as I walked. The interior of the building wasn't too fancy, in fact it was very simple, but it still managed to exude an aura of dignity and stateliness. When I got to the second door on the right, I held my hand up in a fist and raised it to knock. As I was about to knock, the door opened and I was left with my hand up awkwardly as my interviewers stared at me.

The man, Kankuro had opened the door and stood there looking at me amusedly as I quickly put my hand down. "Come in," Kankuro said.

I obeyed and sat in a chair that Temari indicated to me. Both siblings were looking me over as I walked in. I wore my side bangs off of my face, back in a pin. I had decided on wearing my normal shinobi outfit, a maroon top with black and white designs, black shorts, and a maroon skirt with splits on the sides. My shoes were white sandals. I wore white fingerless gloves on each hand and a few inches of white fishnet on my left arm, halfway between my elbow and shoulder.

Kankuro sat next to Temari on the other side of the table from me. "So you must be Sasaki Karuna," Temari said.

"Yes ma'am," I said to her.

Temari began, "Ok Karuna-san, we have a few questions for you. This will greatly help our decision on whether or not to hire you, so please answer all questions truthfully." She looked at me and I nodded in acknowledgement of her statement. "First question: what do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"

I gave myself a short moment to think and then began, "My greatest weakness in the past has been how unique I am in the midst of my peers. I never truly fit in with them because I can be somewhat of a serious person when it comes to learning. The truth though is that they didn't really try to get to know me. I enjoy having fun as much as anyone else, but I know when it's time to be serious. I think of myself as a good communicator, and my greatest strength is my ability to listen to others and learn quickly. I am also a bit of a perfectionist, but have learned to make my perfectionism work to my advantage at work. I am excellent at meeting deadlines, and with my attention to detail, I know my work is correct."

Kankuro and Temari exchanged a look, one that seemed surprised (in a good way I might add) and then Kankuro asked the next question. "What is your motivation in life and why do you want this job?"

"I have always been a self motivated person. Because my mother passed when I was young, I had to grow up fast and take charge of my own life. I've always been motivated by the desire to do a good job at everything I do. I want to excel and to be successful in my job, both for my own personal satisfaction and for my employer. I am extremely honored by the consideration for me receiving this position. I have always had high expectations for myself, and wanted to do more than be a kunoichi. This job is a perfect match for me because I am well organized and am good with handling stress."

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other with grave looks on their faces. This made my heart skip an aching beat. I thought my interview had been going pretty well so far. My spirit sunk and was an inch from hitting the ground, but Temari stopped it by saying, "Karuna-san, I believe you would be a great match for this job, but we obviously don't have the final say. What do you know about the Kazekage?"

After my spirit went back up my butt and my heart felt a bit more normal, I stared at the two siblings confused about what to say. "I believe I know as much as the rest of the village does about Kazekage Gaara. I know about his past, but I believe in his change of heart. I would be greatly honored to work for someone who has done so well for himself after all that he has been through."

The siblings pondered what I said for a minute and then nodded to each other. Temari pressed a button on a phone on the table and after a beep, Tenzi answered, "Yes Temari-sama?"

"We are proceeding to phase two of the interview," Temari said.

After a brief pause on the other end, Tenzi answered, "The guards are on the way ma'am."

"Excellent," Temari then pressed the 'end' button on the phone. Soon there was a knock on the door. "Enter," Temari said. Two guards entered the room and inclined their heads respectfully to the siblings. "Please take Karuna-san to see the Kazekage," she said.

"Yes ma'am," the two guards said. I stood, inclining my head respectfully to a smiling Temari and Kankuro, and then followed the guards. There was a peaceful silence as the guards led me down the hall to the last door.

One of the guards knocked and a deep voice was heard from inside the room saying, "Come in." The guard opened the door for me, and I took another deep breath. How was it possible that I was even more nervous now?

*Flashback*

The first time I had ever met Gaara and his siblings was during my first chunin exam. This was not a happy time for me to remember. It was back when I had my original team and sensei. In order to understand a bit more why my team did what they did at that exam, I need to explain a bit about who I am.

My parents Jarun and Aira Sasaki's actions were motivated by poverty and power hunger. When my father heard about an experiment his inventor friend wanted to conduct on an unborn child in return for money, he jumped all over it. Of course it was a plus that it would make his future child unique and powerful. With that in mind, what power hungry man would care about the possibility that his kid could end up dead?

After my mother agreed, the inventor soon got started. The man's name was Lin Ryuki. He had a history with Orochimaru, and had learned a thing or two about creating mutants from the weird snake man. Having derived from the clan of dragon charmers, Ryuki had an interest in the creatures, and it had been his sick obsession to create a dragon/human mutant.

Months of dragon charming, chemical using, test tubes, and DNA mixing later, I was finished being created. I wasn't even really born. I grew in freaking test tube for pete's sake. The whole thing was kept confidential, and my dad got his money. The problem was that it wasn't something that could just be kept from our government forever. Eventually my status of 'mutant' was put on record.

Obviously this changed my life, but not only in the sense that I had freaky abilities. When my sensei Tabio Hezan found out about what I was, he told me he had to tell my teammates Lanika Shin and Dalo Miela. They acted like the perfect friends, like it didn't bother them that I was different and it didn't change how they treated me. They should win an academy award. Those two should just drop being shinobis and go to acting school. Maybe they could even teach the professors a thing or two.

We trained so hard for the exam and I loved my teammates even more after they accepted me. Everything seemed like it was going my way. Then we went to the chunin exam. I remember so many strange looking people at that exam. Gaara and his siblings stood out though, not only because of their looks, but because of Gaara's reputation. My teammates and I promised each other that we would try to stay away from their group if possible. Too bad we didn't even get a chance.

After everything we had put into training for the exam, my friends quit on purpose at the first stage of the exam. I knew they were both smart, they had to have gotten good marks on the written test they took, so when the test proctor Ibiki Morino asked if anyone would like to give up and my friends raised their hands, I was in shock. I remember yelling at them, trying to convince them to not give up, but they had their reasons that I didn't yet know. I will never forget the words my 'friend' Lanika said, "We just couldn't let a monster like you become a chunin."

When it was all over, I went to Tabio Sensei and asked him if I could change to a new team. He gave his consent and my new sensei was Midori Yoshida. My teammates were both male, Kenzo Hidaka and Takeru Mori. They saw my dragon side as merely being helpful for battle. I found a team that saw the real me, not just a dragon mutant.

*End Flashback*

I walked in the Kazekage's office and I almost fainted. Gaara had always been an intimidating person, but as an extremely beautiful intimidating person, no one can blame me for my eyes nearly popping out of my head. "You may have a seat," Gaara said in his (sexy) raspy voice. I bowed my head in respect to him and sat down across from his desk, attempting to push my eyeballs back in their sockets. He looked down at some papers, "So, your name is Karuna Sasaki. You are a jonin as of a few months ago. The thing I find most interesting about you though Miss Sasaki, is an extremely large classified stack of papers in your file."

This whole time he had an absolutely expressionless face and it freaked the hell out of me. I was usually good at reading people, but this man had a poker face like you wouldn't believe. I didn't say anything, and he continued.

"You are a half dragon half human mutant. You were created by Lin Ryuki, an old friend of Orochimaru's. And you want to be my aide? I don't even see why you were allowed to become a shinobi," the Kazekage said harshly.

His words tore me deeply and I didn't know what to say. So I said the stupidest thing I could have said, "I'd think you of all people would understand that sometimes decisions are made before a person is born. I guess jinchurikis aren't as bizarre as dragon mutants huh?" After saying these words, I mentally slapped myself. I will never get a job by attacking my possible employer like that. Crap.

But the Kazekage surprised me. First his lip curved upward, and then when he saw my expression he full on smiled and looked like he was holding in a laugh. He was so amused by my blunder that I face-palmed myself. The Kazekage transitioned back to his normal poker face and then he was looking at me. I felt ashamed, "Please forgive me Kazekage-sama. You asked about a touchy subject and I reacted wrongly. That is no excuse though, so I don't blame you if…"

"No, no," Gaara cut me off, "You are right. I misjudged you based on something you can't control. You have a perfect record, many recommendations, and an impressive resume. I just wanted to see what you had to say about this, but I now realize my mistake. You are hired. You will start Monday morning at 7AM."

A/N- Thanks for reading. Please review! More reviews=quicker update