This chapter is rated E for Everyone. - Though not all Chapters in this story will be for Everyone.

Today, like every other day, was blistering hot. The sun bathed the sands below and the winds did nothing but blow hot air. No beast with a mind would travel through these harsh environments. Hours of endless sun with no clouds in sight to cover for a moments reprieve. But that did not stop the villagers of Sunagakure from enjoying their lives here in the desert. The natives stayed out of the heat during the peaks of summer if they could. Keeping cool air within their clay buildings and plenty of water at their sides.

To outsiders this place would be a land of heat and torment, but to Sabaku no Gaara it was home. For the Kazekage days like these were ones were you could feel at ease just a little, for an attack on the village would be suicidal. Sitting back on his chair with arms crossed, he viewed the papers in front of him. Many were in need of signatures and others were in need of rejecting. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he stared at his office. Papers and desk aside, it was very much empty. The few potted plants added little life to this barren room. Maybe some redecoration was in order.

The plants reminded him of Konohagakure and of his friends from that village. It had been far too long since he had seen Naruto and the others. Four years, maybe a little more, had passed since the Fourth Great Ninja War. That was really the last time he had seen everyone come together to celebrate their victory and mourn the losses that came with it. He wondered how the new Hokage was doing with his new duties. A small smile worked it's way over his face as he wondered if Naruto knew how much paperwork came with the job in question. How would the bold, brash, blond and blue eyed kid deal with more work coming along the way day by day. Not to mention plans for the wedding. Gaara still held the invitation for Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga's wedding to take place in a few months in top priority.

A gentle knock on his door had caused him to stop thinking of his friends and he went back to being as stoic ever. "Enter," was all he said with the same emotionless monotone voice of he'd become known for. The door handle was jiggled a few times from left to right for a few seconds before it finally turned. From outside his office Matsuri walked in and shut the door behind her. She held more folders and papers Gaara assumed were more rules and requests from the villagers around the town.

Young Matsuri had grown up a bit in the last 4 years but her mannerisms remained the same. Still with the same long brown hair and dark eyes with the blush that never went away when she was around him. Standing there with shaken knees, wearing a dark skirt that was cut an inch above the knee. Long stockings and thick sandals to cover what she could from the sun. A white blouse hung down her shoulders slightly and her headband worn in the same scarf style she maintained for the past couple of years. She had slowly turned from Genin to Chunin but instead of going higher in ranks she decided to become one of Gaara's secretaries when Temari or Kankuro weren't around. She ended up with the job in hand just a few months ago. At first Gaara thought there was no need for her but eventually he had gotten used to her presence and she was, at times, a blessing to have.

Walking towards him with hesitant steps, Matsuri placed a red file down separating it from the others. Clearing her throat she tried to speak as smoothly as possible, "Ga...Kazekage-Same, this is an urgent request mission from a nation far south from the Land of wind." She opened the folder and showed him a map of their location and the other nation. It was quite a stretch of road between the two with water in between. "Emperor Lord Nobunaga Oda has requested you personally for this mission..." She began to blush a bit more, "And to bring a Kunoichi who matches the photo of his daughter, Lady Tokuhime." From there, she had set the map aside and pulled a photo of a woman who looked very much like a doll.

Eyes brown like chocolate and hair of the same color. Her skin was coated in white but colored with various paints set over her face, though Gaara noted she had something of a tan from the little exposed skin on her neck. She wore plenty of jewelery and a headdress which bore a resemblance to the sun. Matsuri then pulled another picture of the same woman but without the flare. He was right, she did indeed had tanned skin and she looked very plain without make up. Without the glamor, she was nothing. But there was something about that picture that looked oddly familiar. He could of sworn he'd seen that face before or someone resembling it.

Gaara grabbed at the paper which was under the pictures and there was the letter from Oda himself, written with fine calligraphy.

"To Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara,

In three weeks, it shall be my eldest daughter's coronation to take up her own ruling in the land. Though it means nothing to you, her life will be in constant danger from enemy nations surrounding my land.
I request for your assistance in protecting the next ruler of this land.
That is why I am also asking for you to bring two other ninja you trust with your life and a fellow Kunoichi matching my daughter's appearance.
I shall send you her photograph, I shall trust you to choose in your best judgement the right ninja.
Her height is 170 cm and she weighs 47.5 kg.
In order to confuse the enemy, we shall use the Kunoichi as bait while my daughter leaves to be corronated in secret. The two ninja you choose shall protect her while you remain behind. Making it seem as if we only hired more help to not raise suspicion. Only a handful of my own warriors know of this plan.
My soldiers will require the needed support and I see no one more fit than yourself for the task.
I hope you accept this mission.

Until then,

Nobunaga Oda."

Matsuri was quite flushed and had a look of hope in her eyes. Gaara only noted that maybe she wanted to be his pick for the Princess. Without giving her a second glance, he picked up the picture of Tokuhime without make-up and stared intensely into it before setting it down in frustration. Where had he seen a woman like that before? In this village? Perhaps. Though he knew few little kunoichi. Perhaps Temari would be a better bet at finding someone matching her features.

"Tell Temari I need her here. Now," he ordered without looking at the girl. Matsuri jumped at his words and ran out of the office with great haste. She left Gaara taking a mild glance back at the photo and compared the same girl side by side. Where in his life had he seen a woman with such features? It was puzzling and annoyed him to no end but the annoyance disappeared once Temari walked into his office.

Her blond hair looked disheveled and green eyes looked anything but amused. "What is it you needed me for, Gaara-Sama?" Her tone was hard but held no bite to it. She tried to always remain tough around him, but at times his eyes could tear down the walls of hardened defense she built. When he said nothing to her and instead motioned his head to the file, she bit her bottom lip and walked to his desk. Instead of grabbing the letter the picture of the woman caught her attention. She blinked in confusion a few times before opening her mouth, "What is Tenten doing in this picture?"

That's when the name hit him. He finally remembered who Tokuhime looked like. The Weapons Mistress of Konoha, Tenten. She had battled Temari in the Chuunin exams many years ago when they first saw each other. She was the kunoichi of the team who was asked to save him from the Akatsuki. And she was a fighter of the war, wielding the legendary Bashosen to fight off Kazuku's masks. He didn't realize how he had overlooked her. She was an important part of history and helped in his life as well.

Temari placed the picture down and looked at her brother who seemed lost in thought. "Hey, you said you needed me or something?" She furrowed her brows together and crossed her arms, waiting for an answer or explanation. However no satisfactory one was given.

"Thank you for your assistance, you may leave." No emotion but spoke with haste. Temari opened her mouth to say something but shrugged whatever little concern she had to him and walked off, muttering a "You're welcome" on the way out.

Taking the picture into his hands, he spoke her name softly. "Tenten..." He needed to write a response to Nobunaga. And he needed to write a request from his friend.

A dream of white shores and clear waters. The waves hit the sand and rocks with a clash. Walking down the wet road as the water hit her ankles and the birds flew by. No one else in sight as she felt bravery kick in. Taking the strings which held her bikini up, she loosened them and let it drop. Her bottoms went down the same way as she started to walk deeper and deeper into cool waters. The fish swam around her and a family of turtles moved through the waters with ease. They were making their way to her side when she noticed them. She patted one on the head and smiled as it went to look at her but she was suddenly startled. The turtle had large eyebrows and large wide eyes. It opened it's mouth and began to speak!

"..Tenten..."

"Nrg..."

"Tenten..."

"Mrh... Tur..."

"Tenten! Awaken! The birds are singing and the morning is young! Isn't the power of your youth craving for your eyes to open? Yes it is!"

The young kunoichi woke with a start and sat up fast with her hand pressed against her chest. She was breathing hard from the dream and the sudden awakening. Tenten wasn't upset at her friend and former team mate who clearly ignored the boundaries she given on him multiple times before, she was just disturbed that his face bore a resemblance to that turtle in her dreams.

Yawning loudly she gave Konoha's Handsome Green Beast Lee a nod of welcome. He was sitting at the chair beside her bed, eagerly awaiting for her to wake from her no doubt youthful dream. He noted that she changed her room decor, which was once bare white with shades of blue hues creating non-defined shapes into a white room with red hues making non-defined shapes. The bed she slept in was noticeably larger than her previous and the clock he and their long gone friend, Neji, was moved from the south end wall to above her bed. Her weapons laid about all around the floors and walls along with a bounty of scrolls to keep them all in. Beside her bed was her nightstand and on top of it was a small lamp and a few picture frames of their team. All three of them with their Sensei. It was always a nice thing to see. He watched her with a smile when she pulled the covers off her body. She was finally getting up.

She was thankful that the night before she thought to wear some pajamas to bed than go bare with only panties. Somehow, she knew this was going to happen. Her fortune prediction told her she'd get a loud awakening. "What happened, Lee?" Tenten asked when she stood up and headed straight for the bathroom attached to her room. She was brushing her teeth when he went by the door and spoke aloud.

"Naruto has requested your presence at his office. He says it's urgent." Foam in mouth, she didn't respond to him right away as she spit the toothpaste out and rinsed. Feeling her teeth with her tongue and inspecting them in the mirror, she dubbed them clean.

"Alright then, I'll head right on over once I finish getting ready. Thanks for the message, Lee." With a small smirk and playful salute she spoke, "Dismissed!" Lee grinned and gave her one of his traditional thumbs up in response before running out of her bedroom window and towards his next destination. "No doubt going to challenge Gai to some form of training or another," she mused. Even after all these years, those two hadn't changed and it was always refreshing to know that, despite it being difficult at times. Undressing, she turned the shower on and went inside. The warm waters made her sigh in relaxation. Whatever Naruto had planned for her she'd have it covered. She had trained harder and harder after the war. She was confident in her abilities to master all weapons she was presented, even those which were newly created. Making jounin just three years after it was all over and she had even held the Bashosen more than a few times in battle. Overall, she felt unstoppable.

Out of the shower she placed her hair in her traditional buns and made it to her closet. She noted a lot of the clothing she wore seemed to match the other. She felt like she should wear something of a variety today. Instead of grabbing traditional plain white, she took her white Mandarin blouse with an auspicious dragon embroidered across the front of the sleek short-sleeved shirt. Banded around the sleeves, Mandarin collar, and hemline in a red trim, and finished with traditional frog closures. With red hakama pants to match and wearing normal sandals she was nearly complete. Tenten reached into her nightstand drawer and took out her headband. She placed it around her head in the usual manner.

She was just about to go but stopped for a moment and took the picture frame of her youth in hand. There she was so many years ago with Lee beside her giving a grin and a thumbs up, mimicking a just as happy Gai who stood behind them. Neji was on the other end of Lee, looking away with an annoyed glance. That picture always made her smile. A twinge of ache in her heart broke her free from reminiscing of the past as she placed the picture down to move on to her future. Naruto wanted her. It was urgent. It must be a mission!

Running out of her apartment she set her sights on the Hokage tower which was across town. A good five minute run if she was pushing it and his request was urgent. She'd best not keep him. She realized that the early mornings of Konoha were often more quiet than after bed time. People were more incline to just nod a good morning than speak it around this time. It was better for her, she thought, since she didn't have to stop by to acknowledge everyone who was kind enough to say hello.

The brisk pace she held however did not pay off when she saw the strategist Shikamaru Nara walk out of the Kage's building with his usual bored expression. He turned to look at her and sighed a bit, his usual greetings to most everyone now a days. Tenten could of sworn he said something was troublesome as he walked off but she wasn't going to even bother asking. He wouldn't tell her anyway even if she was curious. Though she had a strong inclination it had something to with his girlfriend from Suna, Temari. Rumors among friends had spread that their long distance relationship wasn't working too well. It made sense to her. They hardly saw one another and letters still took a day to send to each other. It didn't help that neither wanted to budge from their location to move in with the other. Tenten was both happy and a bit jealous of it to be honest. She was glad she didn't have to deal with such matters but she was jealous they had relationship problems because they were together. She was just feeling a bit lonely, she guessed.

The Hokage's building was a bit empty. The few morning personnel were hiding, probably to catch another hour or two of rest in the back before it got remotely busy around the office. Up the stairs she went to the next floor and the next until she finally reach Naruto's office. With a knock, Tenten waited for the Hokage to answer. After a moment she heard a "Yeah yeah come inside!" and so she did with a smile. There she saw him, her friend and current Hokage in the position she thought he'd be in. Surrounded by mountains of paperwork unorganized and pretty much all over the damn place.

Naruto himself looked like a mess. His hair looked unkempt but she was unsure if that was normal or not for him. Blue eyes gazed at paper work on top of more paperwork. He had shadows under his eyes, he had probably stayed up all night working on those sheets. When Tenten closed the door with a click he finally looked up with a sheepish grin. "Hey Tenten!" His voice kept the same happy tone he always held but she could hear him struggling not to yawn.

Tenten stood in front of his desk with a smile as she waited for him to get his thoughts together. Normally she'd slap him out of it but he hadn't slept for a whole day. She can let it slide this once. He mumbled a bit as he started searching through papers, making more of a mess to grab what he needed and finally picked up the sheet he needed.

"You have a mission effective immediately. Go to Suna and speak to Gaara." He yawned now, slapping his face to get himself to wake up.

Tenten waited a beat to see if there was anything more to it but he stayed silent. "Err... Speak to him about what?" She saw him starting to nod off on his chair.

She kicked at his desk, the loud thump noise caused him to stand straight up. "Oh! Uh, talk to him about the mission. He asked to borrow you for a mission or something." Naruto tilted his head from side to side, thinking about something. "I don't remember the details..." He went on to grumbling to himself.

Tenten fought the urge to sigh like Shikamaru when she nodded. She wasn't going to get anything else out of him. With all this paperwork though and him working hard to get it all done, she could only guess why he'd even stayed up to do it all in the first place. "Tsunade still keeping tabs on you?"

That's when he perked up. "Yeah! Granny yelled at me a bunch of times already. I swear she's making Shizune stalk me or something when I leave this office. I can't leave without getting everything done or else..." He had started talking in a low and ominous voice. He was scared of the thought of what the previous Hokage might actually do to him. The threat alone sent shivers down his spine. "Anyways, enough about that! Pack up and head on out. I gotta finish this crud before she gets back."

With that, Tenten left his office and out the building. Now she did sigh, no wonder she saw Shikamaru do the same thing. A tired Naruto was more annoying than an energetic one. Gaara needed her huh? It was a strange thing for him to request her of all people. Yeah, she was good and all but wouldn't he want someone with more credibility? Or at least a better reputation? It made her wonder but she would eventually find out from the Kage himself when she'd get there.

She went straight home to pack up. She took a few small weapon scrolls for the normal everyday ninja tools. A large weapon scroll which held her infamous Large Iron Ball and secretly her Bashosen. Last was a scroll full of extra clothing, a med pack, food rations, and toiletries. While some others spent an hour fussing with what to take, it took Tenten only 10 minutes to find what she needed. She liked that about herself. Up, ready and out before anyone had a chance to even gather half of their materials. She wrote on a paper and taped it to the front of her door for her friends to see if they stopped by. It only read "Out on a Mission. Be back later."

A smile of content, she left her building once more and went for the Main gate. Tenten headed straight west to her destination. "What could you want from me, mister Sabaku no Gaara?"

The Puppet Master stared at his brother with uncertainty. He glanced around the office for a second before looking at the Kazekage once more with an uneasy feeling. If he didn't know better he'd say this was some sort of prank Gaara was pulling. But he did know better. Kankuro began to fidget with his hood and nodded to his brother. "Okay, I know what to do. I'll leave the important stuff for you later. But be ready for lot of them when you get back. Those higher officials like to throw you off your game for cheap laughs."

The younger brother nodded his head when he glanced out the window. It had been only a day since he sent that letter and he prided himself on being a patient man but for some odd reason he was growing restless. Gaara didn't understand the reason behind this sudden nerve of tension from waiting. Whatever it was though, it was causing him a great deal of annoyance and confusion.

When Kankuro got no response from Gaara he yawned a bit and sat down on his brother's chair. His legs were propped up on the recently cleared off desk. Gaara worked late into the night to make sure he gave Kankuro a clean start for his own line of work. A gentle knock and a shuffle of feet, both the men knew who it was before the door even opened. Gaara didn't turn to look at Matsuri, watching the skies hang overhead of his village. His mind was preoccupied with other matters, such as the mission he'd be going on. He hasn't been on a mission for quite some time. Perhaps that was why he was excited. To be far from Suna and for a good length of time too. The potential to fight a good oponent was even a little appealing. Peace was all well and good but he felt rusty from lack of battle.

"You've recieved a letter, Kazekage-Sama. A response from the Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki," said the young kunoichi as she scuttled to him and handed him the letter. He turned to stare at her, it caused her to jump in place and turn red. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! He's looking at me! What do I do? What do I say?!" She was almost in a dazed stupor but snapped out of it when the letter was snatched from her hand.

His eyes glanced down at the letter and he felt his eye twitch slightly. Naruto's handwriting was almost unreadable. Once, twice, three times he tried to read what counted as penmanship for Naruto. From what he could gather, Naruto agreed to his request. He was sending Tenten over and... Shikamaru? The young prodigy of Konoha and the man who was also responsible for his sister's current change of mood. He didn't smirk but he had a feeling he should, Naruto picked exactly the man Gaara wanted him to choose.

"Tell Temari to wait at the main entrance. She'll find her partner for the mission will be arriving shortly," he ordered. The girl left to do as she was told, leaving behind the two sand brothers. Gaara placed the letter in his pocket, noting that Tenten would be a bit late due to being briefed second. It was no matter though, as long as they arrived at the right place on the same day as Temari and Shikamaru would.

Kankuro stared amused when she left and sneered, "Seems like your fans are growing lesser in numbers but the surviving ones are getting more involved." He loved to tease his brother any chance he got even if he never got a response back from him. He could always tell when he struck a nerve. But hell, that's what brothers do, Kazekage or not. It was always perplexing that Gaara didn't even look for girls. They swarmed all over the guy but he never took a damn second glance. There was a time even Temari thought he swung the other way but they ruled that out pretty fast. To them, Gaara not getting close to anyone but the handful he already had was just a normal thing.

Gaara responded with a "Hm" to his brother, not taking the bait he set out for him on a repeated basis. Kankuro tended to look out for him and at times tried to get Gaara to be more sociable but it was not in his nature to pursue the women his brother nudged him towards. If he himself didn't know what he wanted, what chances did his brother know? "I will head to the gate. I trust you'll be fine here without me." He watched his brother grin and nod. Gaara had nothing to worry about as he left his office, closing the door behind him and then heard hard clay clash against the ground. Kankuro knocked a potted plant over.

Gaara had nothing to worry about...