Happy New Year! Hope you all enjoyed it. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 39: Clueless Reservations

"Gaara, we need to talk to you about something very important." Temari said as she set the table for dinner. She decided to tell Gaara before Kankuro's return which was supposed to be in the morning, she wasn't sure how he would react if he was around. Chieko sat beside Temari. She was basically only there for moral support.

"What is it about?" Gaara began to serve himself and eat.

"Well, it's about me of course, and something that's going to change in my life soon."

"Is it a good thing?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Temari took a deep breath in and exhaled. "Shikamaru proposed to me."

Gaara coughed as he choked on his food from the shock. Chieko stood up but was beckoned to sit down again when Gaara regained his composure.

"Did he now?" He was finally able to say before taking a sip of water to sooth his throat.

"Yes."

"When?"

"… When you and I went to Konohagakure for those 2 ½ weeks."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"And what did you respond to him."

"…. I said yes….."

Gaara took a deep breath and exhaled. "So, you're getting married to Nara. I assume that means you will move to live with him in Konoha then?"

"Yes, that's the plan. We decided to move into Chieko's old apartment once we wed, eventually moving to the main family compound in the future."

"Chieko."

"Yes Gaara?"

"How long have you known about this?"

"Since you both returned from that mission."

"I see, so you've kept the Kazekage, your brother, in the dark about your marriage until now. Does Kankuro know?"

"Yes, he was informed rather abruptly." Temari replied while giving Chieko her deadly glare. Chieko knew she would never hear the end of it.

"And you told Kankuro before telling me… I guess I now know where I stand on your priority list." Gaara exclaimed, he sounded rather annoyed. He was silent for a minute before continuing his meal, both girls not knowing what he would do next. Gaara finished his meal and continued where he left off.

"Shikamaru is set to come to the village in a few weeks, correct?"

"Yes. On behalf of Lady Tsunade."

"… I can't believe you would tell Kankuro before telling me. How discriminating. I thought I was the more trustworthy one, the one you could tell everything to, your confidant." Gaara grumbled aloud. "And you,"

"M-me?" Chieko squeaked.

"Yeah, you. And here I thought you were different. You knew this whole time and didn't say a thing, but when you and Kankuro finally get together – which let me remind you is all thanks to me – you tell him everything under the sun. Leaving me, your supervisor under the dark."

"Gaara I promise you it slipped I didn't mean to say anything without Temari's approval."

"I thought we were friends."

"Gaara cut the act you're scaring Chieko." Temari scolded. Chieko looked at Gaara, who cracked a grin.

"You're mean Gaara. I thought you were different." She rebuked.

"In any case, congratulations. I'm very happy for you. I assume I will be walking you down the aisle since I am the more important sibling. Kankuro can be one of the groomsmen."

"If you insist. I'm sure Kankuro will be happier being part of the groomsmen anyways."

"When is the date?"

"We want it to be some time in spring. We were hoping for April."

"Sounds good. Sunagakure is pretty relaxed during that time, so it's ideal."

"I wanted to get the dress here, I thought it fitting to bring something from home."

"You want to look at the one mother wore on her wedding day?"

"I've tried it on before when I was looking at her stuff and it doesn't look right… but it might actually fit Chieko nicely. She's shorter, and navy seems to be her color."

"But I'm not the one getting married."

"No, but it'll give me an idea of what to get you as maid of honor."

"I think it's a wonderful idea." Gaara chimed in.

"Great! Follow me." Temari grabbed Chieko and took her to a room that was in front of Chieko's. There were many boxes around, each with their own labels.

"All of our parents stuff is in here, along with some childhood memories. This used to be their room." Temari walked to the back of the room and grabbed a large, mostly flat mahogany wooden box.

"Let's go to your room." Chieko nodded and led the way. Temari helped her put on the apparently many layers the outfit possessed.

"When I was younger, my mother used to tell me how wonderful it would be if I wore her Kimono to my wedding. Sadly, I'm too tall for it. But the way this is going, it looks like you may be a perfect fit."

Chieko felt odd putting on the wedding kimono of someone she wasn't related to, and dead. Temari finished tying the obi, which was a buttercup yellow. She then proceeded to undoing her braid and styling her hair into a makeshift top knot. Temari stepped back and admired her work.

"You look great!"

"Thank you. I feel weird in it, wearing something you should be wearing."

"Oh don't be silly, navy isn't really my color anyways. Let's show Gaara." Temari opened the door and led the way to the living room. They heard what sounding like laughter, which did not belong to Gaara. Temari quickened the pace to see who it was.

"Oh Kankuro, it's you. I thought you'd be coming tomorrow morning,"

Chieko gasped. She became more self-conscious of what she was wearing now.

"The guy I was doing the mission with wanted to come home earlier, so we didn't take so many breaks on the way back."

Temari looked in Chieko's direction when she noticed she hadn't been followed.

"Come on, show them."

Chieko reluctantly obeyed he command and emerged into the living room. Her cheeks were tinted red because of her embarrassment. Kankuro stood up abruptly as she walked in staring as if her were in a trance. Gaara walked up to Chieko and examined the garment on her, pulling at the sleeves and checking the linings.

"It looks like it fits perfectly."

"That's what I said. What do you think Kankuro?"

Kankuro didn't respond, he just stayed there staring, causing Chieko to be more self-conscious.

"Hello, earth to Kankuro?!" Temari yelled, snapping her fingers.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Chieko followed.

Kankuro snapped out of his tranced and walked up to her and touch the fabric.

"This was mom's right? For her wedding?"

"Yeah, Gaara and I were talking about my dress and how I'm too tall for mom's kimono, but Chieko here looks amazing in it."

"Yeah, it looks nice," Kankuro stated, almost in amazement.

"What's on your mind Kankuro?" Chieko asked.

"Oh, it's just something my father told me when I was really young." He said, remembering a specific conversation.

Kankuro, age 10

The fourth Kazekage looked over the note that was sent to him from the ninja academy.

"Kankuro, why do you keep bothering that girl?"

"She doesn't deserve to be a shinobi. She's so weird. She doesn't talk to anyone. She pretends to be smart and know everything but she's a total klutz."

"You're lucky she doesn't have parents to defend her. Do you think maybe you tease her because you like her?"

"Ew gross! Why would I like a nerd? Besides, girls are GROSS!"

"Be careful what you say, people end up working for nerds."

"Well I'm just gonna have to be better so she ends up working for me. I'm gonna be someone important."

"Don't be so arrogant."

"What's that?"

"Overconfident. A ninja mustn't look over any details. Besides, you are the son of the Fourth Kazekage, you will have to uphold your behavior at all times."

"Hmph!" Young Kankuro crossed his arms and looked away from his father. The Fourth sighed.

"Did you know your mother was a so called nerd too?"

"What? Mom? She wasn't cool like you dad?"

"No, she enjoyed reading books and she was really smart. She was also very nice to everyone."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because they say men marry women similar to their mothers."

"But mom's dead, I barely knew her. How can I marry someone that's like someone I don't really know?"

"I never me my mother, but I heard she was similar to your mother."

"Pf! Whatever. There's no way I'd like a nerd!"

Present

He never saw any truth to his father's words until recently. He seemed to all ways be too busy for his children, so whenever he actually did sit down and talk to them, he never took him seriously. Who knew his father would have a point?

"Stop gawking you'll look like a pervert." Gaara warned, now standing beside him as the Temari kept going around Chieko in circles, occasionally pulling on a sleeve or readjusting something. Kankuro looked over to his brother.

"So she told you? About the wedding?"

"Yeah. Just now really. I call walking her down the aisle. You can be a groomsmen."

"Whatever you say."

"The feudal lord was pleased?"

"Yeah. He liked the direction the village was taking. He wants us to strengthen our alliance with Konoha. It'd be good to have a strong ally."

"Looks like everything is going to plan."

"How was Chieko?"

Gaara sighed. "She's on high alert around the new employee. She wants to stick him in the interrogations unit, but he says he's not ready for that yet. It seems he's really enjoying working alongside her, even if he's technically been doing busy work. He finished organizing all the documents Chieko wanted, and she likes the fact that he's an organized individual. But she's keeping him at arm's reach.

"We have a council meeting in tomorrow. The following day I have another mission for you. It's simple. There's a rogue ninja on the south border of the land of wind who needs to be killed. He's said to be terrorizing the small villages around the area. But you'll have to go alone."

"Right. Should only take me a few days."

"After than mission I have a few administrative things I want your help in, so you'll be around the village for a while after that."

"Sounds good."

Gaara was curious as to what Kankuro and Chieko had worked things out. They were both active and very busy shinobi. Kankuro would go on missions constantly. Chieko's position required a lot of her attention. Most shinobi never even began dating until much later because of that. Chieko left to change back into her ordinary clothes, just black yoga pants and a fitted t-shirt since it was going to start getting late.

"Kankuro, did you eat already?" Chieko asked.

"Yeah I had to grab something when I returned to the village because I was starving. I didn't know if I'd make it home okay." He said as he made his way to his room. "I need to unpack, follow me?"

Chieko nodded and followed him to his room.

"Door open!" Yelled Temari from the living room. Kankuro left his door ¼ open.

Temari smirked and sighed as she went to sit on the couch, Gaara followed.

"They seem to be adjusting well." Temari started.

"Kankuro will be pretty busy for at least another week, so they won't see each other much until then."

"They have tomorrow afternoon and evening."

"Kankuro won't have as much free time as he used to."

"And neither will she. I guess living together does make it easier for them, but it's also good to have moments of separation, so when you see each other again, you feel like you're complete again." Temari sighed as she thought on few occasions when she would go to Konoha and Shikamaru would be standing at the village gate waiting for her. Gaara caught her expression.

"We're going to miss you here, sis."

"Relax I'm still going to be here for at least a whole year. Besides, you'll have Chieko." On cue they heard giggling coming from Kankuro's room.

"You mean Kankuro will have Chieko, by the sound of things."

Temari chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

In Kankuro's room, Kankuro was walking back and forth, taking stuff out of his bag while putting new stuff in. Chieko sat on his bed reading over his notes on how the mission went before he gave them to Gaara. He'd informed Chieko that he'd be leaving for another mission after tomorrow.

"How was the feudal lord?"

"He was fine. The old man was really glad of the progression of the village. He actually sends his congratulations for your promotion."

"That's nice of him. I haven't seen him in a while now that I think of it."

"Hold on, you know him?"

"I've been to the capital a few times for missions. Only for information though. He's a very strict man. Strict, but admirable."

"I see."

"What about you? How were things here with the guy?"

"He's nice, but I can't shake the feeling that he has another reason for working in the division. According to Temari the guy is an eligible bachelor, many girls are interested in him. He's had a few girlfriends, but he gets rid of them in a matter of months."

"What about you, are you interested?" Kankuro teased.

"I can see why girls would be interested in him, but he's not my type."

"Do you even have a type?"

"I never really thought of what I liked in a guy, but I guess they'd have to be someone like you."

"Brown hair, tall, and handsome?"

"No, more like annoying, persistent, and disorganized." Chieko teased, still editing. Kankuro smirked and carefully put his bag on the floor before tackling Chieko to lay flat on his bed, pinning her underneath him with her hands beside her head. She yelled in surprise before laughing.

"If I'm so annoying and persistent, I guess I'll have to persist in trying to steal a kiss from you." He said as he gave her a small kiss on the lips. He was a little surprised that she willingly let him do that, but he didn't say anything for fear of ruining the moment. He backed away a bit to look Chieko in the eye. He smiled and kissed her in the forehead.

"I missed you."

Chieko smiled back at him. "Me too."

Kankuro released her and sat down, Chieko following his actions.

"What are you doing after the meeting tomorrow?"

"I have to go over the cipher core. They need help decoding an ancient text from some ruins they found on the outskirts of the village."

"Then?"

"I should be done. I finished a lot today."

"Great. So tomorrow we'll have a date night!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. We haven't gone out since coming back."

"Um, sure…"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing really…"

"It is something if you're worrying."

"It's, it's just that I don't remember the last time I was out in Suna at night that wasn't for a mission. I've always managed to make it home after work before sundown. I never had a reason to, even during village festivals... and don't you have to get some rest before going on your mission?"

"Don't sweat it. You'll have me around. It'll just be a fun night out. I'll be fine."

"You don't have to over exert yourself. I'm fine with a night in."

"It's not that,"

"What is it then?"

Kankuro thought to a conversation he was having when he had left the village to the feudal lord.

1 Week Earlier

"Lord Kankuro," The man began.

"What is it?"

"I don't mean to be intrusive, but is there something between you and that girl?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"I see."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that I remember her parents. My wife and I went on a few mission before with them, they had mentioned they had a daughter. We would have never guessed they'd turn on the village like they did and leave her here. It's odd to see their offspring holding the same position they once did, it just makes me wonder,"

It irked Kankuro the way he talked about her without knowing anything. It reminded him of how he had made that mistake before. "Chieko isn't going to desert the village like they did. You have no proof. She has no reason to. I'm not just saying that because I like her. You should get to know someone before judging them."

"My apologies Lord Kankuro. However, I am not the only one to think such thoughts."

"Believe me I'm very aware of that."

"You may face more backlash as important people become aware of your relationship as well. May I ask how you will face that?"

Kankuro thought for a moment, then smirked. "By proving all their thoughts about her wrong."

Present

"I just think we make a public appearance is all. You know, get people use to our presence together."

Chieko knew someone must have asked about their relationship and said something that irked him, but she decided not to delve into that because she knew they're be talking about it for hours on end, and it was getting late. She'd leave it for another time. And she didn't want to ruin the mood.

"Alright then. Tomorrow, we go out. But now, you should get some rest." Chieko smiled as she stood up to go out, but Kankuro grabbed her wrist.

"Why don't you stay? I'll rest better if you're here."

"I still have a few things to prepare for the meeting tomorrow. Some other time."

Kankuro sighed and reluctantly let go.

"Good night Kankuro."

"Good night, just yell if you need me to save you from a nightmare." Kankuro teased.

Chieko chuckled before closing the door and retreating to her room. She went in and closed her door and signed.

"You know he's just trying to protect you." Temari said, startling her. Temari sat on a chair by the desk, filing her nails. Chieko went to sit on her bed and took out a scroll that was on her nightstand and began to write in it.

"I know that, but he can't protect me from everything, which is what I wish he'd understand."

Temari looked at the floor in thought. "As shinobi we're taught to protect ourselves and fight off anything that gets in our way. In doing so, we're taught to become emotionless soldiers."

"Why are you saying that?"

"I know its new territory for you and all, but being in a relationship means bringing all your defenses down and letting someone get to know everything about you."

"What do you mean?"

Temari sighed. "For someone so smart, you can be so dense. Don't you think Kankuro knows that? I'm saying even if you can protect yourself, let him protect you."

"I'm not following."

Temari pulled the scroll away from Chieko. "Let's try this. Your roll in this relationship is to be a damsel in distress. Kankuro's roll I to be a knight in shining armor. Get it?"

Chieko blinked twice trying to understand the logistics in Temari's words. "Why would I do that if I can do just as good a job as a knight?"

"You know what? Forget it, you're just gonna have to learn the hard way. I can't expect you to understand so easily anyways." Temari said exasperated. "See you in the morning." She returned the scroll and walked out closing the door. Chieko pondered on her words before returning to what she was doing, deciding to ponder some other time,