𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝙻𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚎r. (𝙶𝚊𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚡 𝚘𝚌)

Frustration ( Chapter 29 )

A week went by, an eerie calmness had taken over the Sunagakure, almost too calm. Kankurou was at the watch-tower, Temari's new fiance, Shikamaru, was coming into the sacred village to live with Temari. The puppet-nin wasn't crazy about the wedding, that was coming up in a year, but was happy for his sister. As he watched the Leaf Jonin be greeted by Temari, Kankurou began to wonder about his own love-life. Gaara had Ura, and he didn't know when he would pop the question, and now Temari had Shikamaru. That left him the odd-man out...

"I'm not too old...hopefully," Kankurou sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

Kankurou never went to bed alone, he always had someone... That role used to be Ura's before Gaara swooped her off of her feet. In a way, he missed Ura, but it wasn't a needy thing. Kankurou was also happy for his brother and his dear friend, both finding what was thought to be lost. He looked around the room, it was questionable that Gaara locked himself in that room for a few days at a time. A sigh of lonliness escaped his lips, he never knew it would end up like this...just him and him alone anymore.

"I knew you were here."

Kankurou looked up to see Temari in front of him, "Where's Shikamaru?"

"In the village, why are you bummed this time?" Temari narrowed her eyes on him, "Are you on your 'man' period?"

"Haha, funny... If I tell you, will you stay and listen, I need to get it off of my chest," Kankurou asked Temari.

Temari sat down on the desk near Kankurou and looked intentivly at him, "Sure, go ahead..."

Kankurou took a deep breath in and released the air, "I know I have the reputation of being a 'womanizer' in this village, and I am more than willing to admit it. But...now I understand what Ura felt when your friend had that wedding, how alone she felt that night... The thing is though, that's exactly what i'm feeling now..."

"Oh.. I'm sure there are plenty of women here who'd love to settle down with you," Temari commented.

"It's not the same, Temari... Gaara's right when he said they were all 'power hungry wenches'. None of them want the real me, not the other me that will screw their brains out everyday-all day," Kankurou stated, "I want a woman that will make it harder for me to get, one that will put up a chase for me... And when I win her over, she'll make me wait until I-"

"I don't want to hear that part," Temari stopped him, then gave him a sisterly look, "You'll find that woman someday, Kankurou, it just takes different people different times. I didn't realize Shikamaru was the one for me, even after he and I hooked up everytime I went to Konoha. Plus, Ura and Gaara didn't realize about each other's chemistry until our hints finally kicked in."

Kankurou listened to his sister's words, then stood up, "Anways, enough about that, when is Gaara planning to leave again?"

"Tonight, he and Naruto are heading to a Healing Sage's place, then they are going to plan everything else," Temari explained, "Gaara is taking me, you, and Ura while Naruto is taking Lee, Sakura, and some other guy to replace Sasuke."

"Why is Gaara taking Ura? Doesn't he want her to stay here and protect the people while he's away?" Kankurou asked.

"No, he made it quite clear to the Sand Elders that Ura is to come with him in case her persuasion is needed," Temari shrugged.

**Naruto**

The Hokage had finally finished his work for the day, but before the true snow storms could hit, Naruto wanted to walk to the gravestone one last time. His old friend...Naruto's ocean blue eyes were cast down to the marble stone with Sasuke's name on it, the once Shinobi had tried so hard...

Naruto tightened his fists and jaw, pushing back the tears that came from his memories. Sasuke...he betrayed Konoha, but wanted a second chance when Naruto had brought him back. And yet, no one would give him the time or day, Naruto had tried but felt angry whenever he thought about how Sasuke betrayed Konoha. All but one had turned their back on the Uchiha, and she set him free into the world too early before he could fly.

"You're here too, huh?" Sakura approached Naruto from behind, "I miss him..."

"Me too..." Naruto stated gruffly, "It seems like yesterday...that he and I had our last conversation."

"It was about 'her'... I remember," Sakura glared harshly at Sasuke's gravestone, tears forming her eyes, "He wanted to stay in the village and not go on the expihdition..."

"I told him he had to go...but Sasuke knew he was going to die, so did Ura..." Naruto couldn't hold in the tears, he let it all out on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura held the Hokage as he cried on her shoulder, she too had to cry, there was still so much she wanted to say to Sasuke...but it was too late. When Sakura had barely squinted her eyes open, she froze, Naruto, too, had felt the flicker of familiar chakra behind them. It's been so long since they had felt that flame of chakra, so filled with resentment and grief... Sakura and Naruto released each other and turned around... Instantly, the Leaf Kunoichi gave way, she fainted right on the ground while Naruto staggered to keep standing from the shock that filled him. Sasuke was standing before him, cuts and bruises all over him that were scabbing over.

"Sas...Sasuke?" Naruto stammered, "You... You were dead..."

"Almost, dobe, Gaara's men nearly killed me, but that mystery man... He's the one that did this to me, and his name is Kabutome," Sasuke spoke with sharp words, "You have to be careful when you find him, Naruto, because he's ruthless."

"Ai..." Naruto approached Sasuke, staring him dead in the eye, "So...Gaara planned a part of it?"

Sasuke had a solemn look in his own dark eyes, "Yes...he tried, but failed."

Naruto felt betrayed...he had ordered Gaara to not try and kill Sasuke, but the Kazekage did otherwise. He couldn't become enemies with Sand now, not when there was a maniacal man on the loose. Naruto concluded that he'll deal with Gaara after this Kabutome was caught and killed. Then, in an instant, Naruto hugged Sasuke tightly. A lot has happened in the last week, and Naruto finally had some clossure to Sasuke, that the Shinobi was still alive and well.

The Hokage and Sasuke helped Sakura back to Ino's home, and Ino seemed a bit happy that Sasuke was alive, but wasn't thrilled that Sakura fainted that Sasuke was alive. Then, Naruto and Sasuke went back to Naruto's office to discuss the matter of having to deal with Sand.

"Gaara is no longer able to keep my trust, so after we get this crazy guy, i'll have no choice but to cut all ties with his country," Naruto stated, "I don't care if he wants to fight a war, but i'm not having him think he can just kill anyone he pleases."

"That isn't a good idea, Naruto," Sasuke commented, "His lover is a valuable resource to our country, she can tell us all of Gaara's plans."

"And what will happen when we get her mad at us?" Naruto snapped at Sasuke, "We can't rely on Ura, it's because she is Gaara's lover that makes her untrustworthy either."

"Ura wouldn't abandon us entirely, remember she's friends with Lee," Sasuke added, "Plus she is friendly with you, as well, and then there is me. There are too many people that Ura has a connection with, you don't need to worry about a thing."

Naruto thought about Sasuke's statement, then sat at his desk to contimplate that subject even more. Sasuke had a very good point, Ura does have many close ties in Konoha... So if he becames enemies with Gaara, that would mean Gaara wouldn't send Ura to Konoha for anything, which would make it dangerous for both Konoha and Ura. But if Naruto kept Gaara as a loose ally, then Sasuke would have to remain close to Naruto to be safe, and Ura could get them information... And if anything were to happen to Sasuke again, Naruto could easily black mail Gaara with two attempts of murder.

"Fine... I'll keep Gaara as a loose ally, only until he screws up again," Naruto concluded.

**Gaara**

A new emotion had erupted his lifestyle, and from what Baki called it, guilt was the cause. Gaara knew he would never tell a soul about his plan of ridding Sasuke from the world, and he had done a fairly good job of it. But Sasuke wasn't the real problem, he had been with-holding the deadly secret from Ura, whom was close friends with Sasuke. He knew she'd get over the Uchiha, but the fact that he had lied to the Hokage, Konoha, and Ura was a very big bundle.

The Kazekage was in his private study, he had summoned for his brother, Gaara had to get it off of his chest. Once Kankurou had appeared in front of his mahogany desk, Gaara gave his brother an urgent look, "Take a seat."

"If your maid said anything she's dead wrong," Kankurou quickly said.

"I don't care what your personal life is, it's about me and Ura," Gaara waved off what his brother had said, "I need you to know something, but you cannot tell Ura."

"What'dya do this time?" Kankurou was more than just interested in hearing about Gaara's mistake, "Is it about you not killing him?"

Gaara shot Kankurou a cold, death glare, Kankurou then knew he had hit the jackpot for the last question. Kankurou leaned back in his seat, running his fingers through his hair, "So, you're feeling that pit of guilt in that cold soul of yours. Well, it's going to be a matter of time when she finds out, so it's best you tell her now."

"Will she get angry?" Gaara asked, he didn't know how to handle women like his brother knew how, "Will she leave?"

"Oh, Ura will be pissed off at you for a long time, but she won't leave you like that. She won't trust you for a long time, and you can just forget about any 'happy' nights for probably a few nights," Kankurou explained, "You did a favor for Sand for almost getting rid of the Uchiha, but you really screwed up for your personal life. Ura is going to point out how you knew that Sasuke was her friend, but you went and tried to kill him anywways. Then she's gonna call you names for a few minutes, but don't worry, she won't mean half of them."

Gaara was a bit timid now...facing Ura now seemed like a death penalty or a huge war that he was unsure about surviving. The Kazekage had to remember that she was not his wife, so she had every opprotunity to leave when she pleased...that could be one of the times. Kankurou sighed as he stood up, "Well... You gotta a big-ass problem, Gaara, and she's not going to sleep in this mansion tonight. So i'm gonna go make the couch up in my apartment so she can sleep there."

Kankurou left Gaara alone in his office, Gaara didn't know how long he would wait until he had the courage to face Ura. Though he was a ruthless, powerful Kazekage, he knew very-well of Ura's temper... Her temper was a lot like Temari's...no mercy. Then, Gaara took a few deep breaths, then went to the master bedroom, where he felt Ura waiting..

He entered the huge room, Ura was sitting at the end of their bed with a friendly smile on her face, "Good evening, Gaara."

"You're going to want to sit there, there is a subject that I need you to listen to," Gaara crossed his arms as he shut their door, "And you must listen to my reasonings."

"Sure, go ahead," Ura got comfortable, what could there possibly be there to talk about anyways?

Gaara shifted his gaze, the tension in the room was increasing with every passing moment. He began to lightly pace, a nervous reaction he always had, "You know everything I do has a reason behind it, you of all people should know that."

"I do," Ura stood up and took Gaara's hands, "And I know there is something big on your mind, and I want you to know that I am willing to listen."

The Kazekage felt more comfortable now, then he placed her back on the bed, "It's about the Uchiha...there is something you must know before we leave tonight to meet the Hokage."

"Yes?" Ura looked straight at Gaara, wondering where he was getting at. . . .until she finally caught on, "No...you didn't...you promised..."

"I did, bu-"

"You killed Sasuke!" Ura stood back up, her fists balled, "You heartless bastard!"

"He's still alive, he returned here last week to tell us about Kabutome. I sent Kankurou to kill the Uchiha, but Kankurou refused to do that. From what i've been told, the Uchiha made it safely back to Konoha," Gaara explained, he was wondering why Ura was acting the opposite of what she had said.

"That's all fine and dandy, but you lied to me and Konoha! The funeral back there, was that all just a play to you!? You f***ing toyed with people's minds, Gaara!" Ura slammed her fist into the wall as she approached Gaara, "What the Hell was going on in your mind to make you lie to me!?"

"It was in your best interest tha-"

"My best interest!? Oh no, you were thinking about your own selfish-ness," Ura shook her finger in his face, "You were jealous because you thought Sasuke and I had a 'thing'! Well guess what, we didn't!! I can't believe you did that! Are you that stupid!?"

"Ura, calm down," Gaara tried to get Ura to stop talking, but she just got even more angrier.

"Then you send Kankurou to kill Sasuke, but I bet the only reason he didn't do it was because he didn't want to be in your genius plan!" Ura growled, then she lashed out at Gaara, "Did you honestly believe Kankurou would betray me like that?? Of all people I could trust my life with, Kankurou would be the one that holds that key! He knows if he killed Sasuke, I would kill him."

"So now you do care that deeply for the Uchiha and my brother," Gaara crossed his arms, staring a frozen stare at her.

"Don't you turn the tables around, Gaara, YOU'RE the one that's in deep shit now," Ura got in his face, "I love you, but you can be a complete moronic ass-hole at times."

Gaara was out of things to say, Kankurou was right when he said she would get like this. The Kazekage took a step out of the way, "You can leave if you feel you need to..."

"I'm not leaving, you are," Ura glared at thim as she, too, crossed her arms, "I'm not the one that messed up this time, you did, so you can leave."

Now this was something Gaara did not expect, he owned this mansion, this was his home. But when he wanted to say something, Gaara could see it was a lost battle, he had already lost the war, so why try to fight what was already gone. The Kazekage walked over to Ura, kissed her cheek, even when she turned her face away, then disappeared into his brother's apartment. Kankurou was a bit surprised to see Gaara lying down on his couch, then he asked, "She kicked you out didn't she?"

"Shut up..." Gaara growled as he tried to sleep.

Kankurou then felt the summoning from Ura, he didn't want Gaara to know where he was, so he left through his front door instead of just disappearing in smoke... Meanwhile, Ura was breathing deeply so she couldn't destroy the beautiful room as she waited for Kankurou. When he had arrived, she lunged herself at him, crying on his chest, "That...bastard...lied to me."

The puppet-nin was at a loss of words, he didn't know whether to agree with her or not. So, he only answered her with silence, only embracing her. When he sniffed the top of her head, he could smell the scent of fresh, heavy sake all over her, Ura was totally wasted. Ura stumbled them to her bed, Kankurou just crawled them both up to the pillow, but he resisted her seductive touch when she tried to grab his man-hood. It wasn't until she undressed herself and began to kiss him that Kankurou stopped resisting and betrayed his brother's trust...