Temari of the Sand didn’t want to go back to Konoha but Gaara had said that they needed the help of the Sand ninjas again and that he still had a debt to that Naruto of the leaf village and the Sand would continue to have friendly relations with Kanoha until Gaara felt his debt had been paid.  Temari sighed as they dashed on their way to Kanoha.

Three ninjas dashed through the forest: Gaara of the Sand, Kankaro of the Sand, and Temari of the Sand.  The three siblings had become a team of ninjas to rival all other teams with the exception of maybe the legendary Sanin.   Gaara of the Sand was a small, short-red haired man with a gourd always attached to his back and the Japanese symbol for the word ‘love’ on his forehead, obviously the leader of the three.  Kankaro of the Sand had strange purple marks across his face, hiding it from the world, wore black and was an averaged size young man with what looked like a corpse always attached to his back.  Temari of the Sand was the only girl in this fearsome team, had a fan always with her attached to her back, in height somewhere between her to brothers with blonde hair that she parted into four tufts on her head.  Two of them up top on either side, and two of them in the back so people usually did not notice these.

“Are you still bothered by this mission Temari?” Gaara asked his sister.  “At least you’ll fit in with their squad leader, you both think everything is so boring and troublesome.”

Temari smiled inwardly but groaned outwardly. “Shikamaru will be with us the whole time then?  That whiner?  I can’t believe they made him leader!”

Kankaro rolled his eyes.  He knew his sister respected Shikamaru but had no idea what was going on inside her heart.  “You’d better get used to it Tem,” he used her old nickname, “if I heard Gaara right, Shikamaru will be our leader too after Gaara leaves us.”

Temari glared at Kankaro, not only had he called her by that… name…but, he was suggesting that she had not been listening when Gaara had given them their instructions.  Reluctantly, she realized that she really did miss the part about Gaara leaving them after she had heard they had been spending time with Shikamaru.  Fearing her brothers would see, Temari turned and started to grin to herself, wondering if Shikamaru had a nickname that he hated too.  “That would make this mission simpler” she said barely audibly.

“You’re glad I’m leaving you with Shikamaru then Tem?” Gaara had heard her statement but not the contestation going on inside Temari’s head.  Even though he knew better, Gaara was taking a cue from Kankaro and reverting to the name he called her when she was small.  Temari had seemed like such a mouthful at the time and Tem was easier to say.  Naruto had seemed to tell him that, even with a demon inside, he could still tease his teammates and be friends with them.

“You know I would rather you stay with us to keep that whining fool under control Gaar,” Temari said reverting back to his old nickname.  

Gaara groaned as he realized he had hit a sore spot.  “Sorry Temari, but I’ve got business elsewhere.  You know that.  Plus, I know how much you love looking at Konoha men.”

“Konoha men?” she asked with a giggle.  “Does that mean Kankaro won’t be with me either?  Or is he turning into a girl on us?”

“OW!” Kankaro groaned as Temari poked him n the ribs.  “If you must know, I’ve got a different assignment than you Tem.  But, Gaara needed us to be together for the journey to the leaf village” Kankaro said hesitantly, watching Gaara for cues to see if he needed to stop.  Seeing none, he bowed his head toward Gaara as a gesture of respect and continued, “I’ll be traveling with that Ino girl and the other Konoha girls chosen for this mission so you’ll have all the Konoha boys that their leader chose to be with you.  I guess you could say I will be second in command next to Shikamaru in a different group.  Within his group, that will be you.  Didn’t you hear this the first time Tem?”

It was Temari’s turn to growl.  “STOP calling me that!!!!”
Gaara snapped, “Kanker-sore, that’s enough!”  Kankaro stopped dead in his tracks.  Gaara had not called him by his old nickname sense they had entered into the academy so he took it as a bad sign.  Gaara and Temari stopped beside him.  “Guess it’s time for lunch then, “ Gaara sighed.  “I had hoped we would be closer to Kanoha by now but Kankaro cannot subsist on as little food as Temari and I can.  Let’s see what you made for us today Kanker.”  Gaara winked at Kankaro and Kankaro visibly relaxed.  

Taking the food out, all the siblings ate in silence, thinking their own thoughts: Temari was thinking about what Kankaro had said, her beloved fan, and the Konoha boys; Gaara about his gourd (his Mom), what Naruto had told him most recently, and his part of this mission; and Kankaro was thinking about his puppet, the Konoha girls and his next meal.

'The Konoha boys huh?  No Kankaro or Gaara to hold me back from using my beloved fan?  This could actually be fun… I wonder which boys other than Shikamaru are coming along?  Probably that Choji but he is so much like Kanker-sore, always thinking about food.  I can handle him with one hand tied behind my back and no fan.  The bug guy… Shino? was it? He could be dangerous if I am not careful.  Naruto?  No, I think that is Gaara’s business in Konoha… and Sauske’s gone now so that leaves Kiba?  The dog dude?  Neji?  He is a scary one with those eyes that can see through everything… Rock Lee?  He can only fight physically but he is faster than Gaara’s sand so that could be a problem… That is all unless we get some higher-ranking ninjas to come with us.  It’d be fun to have it just me and Shikamaru…with Choji, Shino, and maybe Neji….” Temari thought as she slowly chewed her food.'

Gaara chewed quickly and nervously as he thought, 'Oh Mom, I hope I’m doing the right thing here!  We have not been separated since the last time Konoha needed our help when they were chasing that Sauske kid.  Even my meetings with Naruto did not separate us siblings; Naruto just came to the Sand with… usually Hinata and Kiba, though sometimes Shino came too.  Last time Naruto had been a little aloof when giving me advice on how to treat my teammates but it was also the first time I had told Naruto that my teammates were also my siblings.  Naruto had seemed to say ‘tease them, they will think of you more like a person and less like a monster that way” but had not actually said anything.  This mission is going to be interesting.  I asked Tsunade about separating the guys and the girls, but she did not give me any reason for it and offered no objection when I put Temari with the guys and Kankaro with the girls.  In fact, she seemed to like it.  This whole mission is confusing and the only comfort I have is my Mom’s love in the form of the sand in my gourd.  I am supposed to go with Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura behind the other two teams and do what?  Tsundade wasn’t very specific about that, she just said I’d know when the time came.'

'I hope my poor puppet doesn’t suffer the treatment I’ve seen Tem inflict upon her dolls… why did Gaara pair me with the girls?  Especially that Ino character?   All she seems to do is get inside people’s heads and that is disturbing!  I wonder if the other girls are as creepy?  Let’s see, there is Hinata who has those eyes that see everywhere - yup, creepy, Sakura, who, if I have heard correctly, has become an excellent medinin - not creepy at all, and who else? Ten Ten. Whose scroll of kunai and daggers is not creepy, but is anything but safe!  I think I’d rather have Hinata, Sakura, and maybe Ten Ten but I don’t know who their Hokage decided to send in my group.  Gar and Tema do not seem to think that food is important; I hope these girls are not all on a diet!  That would make eating very tricky indeed.' Thought Kankaro as he chewed his food at a pace that was somewhere between Gaara’s and Temari’s.