The Anime Lover's Must Read: One-Shot Collection

Hearts At War ~Gaara One-Shot~

Sunlight shined down in his sea foam green eyes as he looked out over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After requesting a meeting with the Hokage, Tsunade, he began to look forward to coming here. It had been too long since he saw all his old friends in Konoha, even if he was here for much darker reasons than just saying hello. He had come here on strict business, with a strict plan in mind. As the new Kazekage of Sunagakure, he had to keep all serious matters in mind. No time for anything else now. But, yet, this place... It's where she lived...

"Gaara," His older brother voice sounded from behind him, a hand landing on Gaara's shoulder. "You sure about this?" His voice seemed worried, unsure. It was sort of out of character for him. But Gaara knew the discomfort was genuine, that his brother and his sister were both unnerved by what was happening the three days' journey back home. He didn't blame them, though; the whole entire dark matter was unsettling enough. But that's why they came here.

At first, Gaara disagreed with the idea of leaving his Village in the time of need. But after listening to the Sand's council, he was convinced that going to the Konohagakure and requesting the meeting with the Hokage Tsunade was for the better. With the accompaniment of his older brother, Kankuro, and his older sister, Temari, he was off and running to get to the Leaf Village.

As they all stood on the cliff that overlooked the village, Gaara sighed and closed his eyes. If only he had come under better circumstances, then he might actually be able to stop and see old friends. But he couldn't now, not with all he was being forced to deal with. Maybe if he snuck out one night while he was here, he could meet up with her, but when he remembered who her brother was, he immediately dismissed the idea of even trying to see her. He had forgotten her brother was over-protective...

"Ready?" He asked his two older siblings, who both nodded confidently. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Let's go."

~~~ ^-^" ~~~

"Please, Nii-sama! Please!"

Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her childishness, but didn't uncross his arms. "No, Tsuki." He wasn't about to give in, even though he always did in the end. She was so troublesome, always begging to do things that were so dangerous... He wished she would just stay home so she wouldn't get hurt.

"Shika, it’s just shopping! She's not going to die..." Tenten sighed heavily, placing a hand on her forehead and shaking her head pitifully. "Stop being so overprotective of her! She's only a few years younger than you, its not like she's an infant or anything!"

"Shika-nii! Can I please go? Please!" She begged him, getting down on her knees and clapping her hands together, shaking them every so often. He shook his head sternly, and turned to trudge back inside to get something to eat, but as he did, something latched on to his leg and tripped him. Veering his head to look over his shoulder, he saw his little sister had clasped onto his leg.

"Tsuki! Let go of my leg, baka!" Shikamaru yelled at her, trying to shake his leg free of the oh-so-troublesome girl. He hated when she did things like this, which was pretty often enough. Most people always said that they were so alike, but the two siblings didn't see it. And, at the moment, Tenten couldn't see it either. She stepped back as she watched Shika hold up a hand-sign. "Kagemane no jutsu!"