AN: Might have some spoilers.

Mother of the Year

Eyes whirling madly with the sharingan, Uchiha Sasuke stared stonily up at his former mentor.

Chapter 5

Temari didn't know whether to feel relieved or more worried as she watched Sasuke hold her son. Without really caring or looking, Sasuke tossed the boy in their general direction.

'That bastard!' she thought as Ga-chan flew through the air. Forcing herself to get to her feet, Temari rushed forward. She skidded slightly as she caught Ga-chan in her arms. She tumbled back. She would have fallen if Shikamaru hadn't been behind her, holding her upright. Together, they backed warily away.

"Come out," Sasuke said. The dark-haired boy turned to a dark corner of the room and scowled as he watched two members of the Akatsuki stepped out. His eyes darted around looking for his brother.

"Not here," an Akatsuki told him. He smiled causing his strange piercings to shifted. He gave a large smile at Ga-chan. "It looks like we have a stake in this as well."

"Pein-onichan!" Ga-chan looked happy. His earlier fright was forgotten as the other figure stepped out. Ga-chan wriggled in excitement. "Konan-oneechan! Ne, is my otou-san here?"

"That's why we've come," the Akatsuki called Pein said soothingly. "Your otou-san thinks it's time you come home."

The boy looked unsure. "Is Okaa-san coming?"

Pein gave Temari a dismissive look. "We'll get you a new one later," he said. He gestured for the boy to come. Stubborn, Ga-chan refused.

"I want to say with Okaa-san."

"You're coming with me," Orochimaru snarled. He made a move towards the boy, but stopped in his track when Sasuke moved into his path. The dark hair boy reached back and drew out his sword.

"Sasuke-kun!" a cry came from the doorway. Coming through the door arch was Sakura and Naruto. Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato followed. From behind them, Temari could make out Rock Lee, his team, and sensei.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura's voice wavered with emotion.

"Sasuke, you bastard!" Naruto snarled. His voice was harsh, but anyone could see the hope in his eyes. "Did you decided to come back?"

"No." That one little word seemed to shatter team seven. Not bothering to give his old teammates another glance, he stared at Orochimaru. "I'm just here to settle a score." With that, he attacked.

All hell broke loose then.

Sasuke attacked Orochimaru and Naruto attacked Sasuke. The Akatsuki, not wanting to be left out, attack the shinobi in the doorway. Ninjutsu and Taijutsu flew in flurries around the room and Temari jumped back. She watched as the female Akatsuki sent Sakura and Ten-Ten slamming into the wall, knocking them unconscious.

"Do you want some?" Tsunade asked. She propped herself on a desk and had somehow conjured up a cup of saké to sip contently. She offered a cup to Temari, who turned her down.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Temari asked. She frowned when Tsunade reached for her. In the chaos, Temari had almost forgot about her broken ribs. Now that she felt Tsunade's chakra flowing through her, mending it, the pain faded away into a dull throbbing. Tsunade even took care of her shoulder and wrist.

Temari gave a thankful nod. She watched as Shikimaru moved forward, muttering about how troublesome this was as he attacked the Akatsuki, trying to aid his friends.

Looking down at Ga-chan, Temari made a move to discreetly escape, but was halted by Tsunade. "You're better off here," the Hokage said.

"How can you say that?" Temari looked at Orochimaru as a point. A loud war yell bellowed out. The next thing Temari saw was a large frog. Standing on top of that frog was Jiraiya. His abrupt presence brought the battles to a stand still.

Growling at the added intrusion, Orochimaru toss Naruto to the side and made a hasty retreat, disappearing from view and Kohona. Before he left though, he sneered down at Temari.

"This isn't over," he said. "I'll have that boy."

Then, he was gone.

Uchiha Sasuke disappeared as well.

"Let's go," the male Akatsuki member gestured.

"The boy?" His partner asked.

"Oh, Right," Pein's eyes shifted to Ga-chan. "You wanna come back home?"

The boy looked torn. He made up his mind a moment later. "No. I wanna stay with Okaa-san."

"In that case," Pein reached into his robes and pulled out a fan, one that bore the Uchiha crest and tossed it to Temari. "That's from his father."

Temari scowled.

"You have our word as Akatsuki that we won't attack Suna, while he's under your care," Pein stared at her straight in the eyes. "One day, his father is going to come back for him. It would be in your best interest to hand him over then without a fuss."

The Akatsuki vanished.

"Now that it's over," the Hokage said. She took another swig of her sake. "Someone wake up Ten-Ten and Sakura. I want you all to clean this mess."

Groaning, everyone began to straighten the area up while Gai-sensei saw to the girls. At the words cleanup, Jiraiya made himself scarce, even though he was desperate to know what he had missed.

"Looks like we're going to have to cancel the exam again," Tsunade said. The Hokage stared out of the hole in her wall at the destruction to her village.

Temari joined her. She placed Ga-chan down and watched as the boy ran to help clean. Actually, he seemed to want to help only Sai, much to the Hokage's amusement. "I think your chunin exams are cursed," Temari said. She remembered the last time it was canceled. Orochimaru had a hand in that one as well.

A jounin appeared at Tsunade's side. "Good news, Hokage-sama. Somehow, there doesn't appear to be any causalities."

"What about our Shinobi who was fighting Orochimaru?"

"Mostly bruise and battered, but they'll live."

Tsunade waved the man away. She turned to Temari. "What will you do?"

"For now?" Temari stared at the sun rise. "All I want is to go home."

Tsunade nodded. "I'll send some escorts with you."

Temari gave her thanks and turned around in time to see Ga-chan shyly presenting Sai with that accursed earring.

A week later, she was sitting in the Kazekage's office, staring at Gaara. Her Leaf escorts, Team Gai, had been gracious enough to go exploring with Ga-chan through Suna, while she spoke with her brothers in private. Kankuro was sitting in the chair next to her.

Temari kept the emotion out of her voice. "His father is an Akatsuki member, we don't know who his mother really is, and he's Orochimaru's newest target. I would understand if you don't want him to stay in the village."

Had she been in Gaara position, choosing between the safety of one boy verses the safety of a whole village, she knew what choice she would make. If she was nothing else, she was at least practical.

Temari stared ahead.

She had her bags packed and ready. The moment Gaara said those words, she would be ready to leave Suna with Ga-chan and never return.

"You're his mother," Gaara said. He looked over a mission report, became bored, and toss it over his shoulder and onto the floor where other similar scrolls met the same fate. "That makes him a Suna citizen. He has a right to stay."

Temari felt her heart skip.

"He can stay?" she asked. She looked into Gaara's eyes, trying to read his thoughts.

"That's what he said, stupid," Kankuro rolled his eyes. "Just do us a favor and don't pick up any more brats." Then he thought about it. "If you do, make sure you name the next one after me."

Epilogue

It had all been planned. Finding the boy. Experimenting on the boy. Their leader treating the boy like a son, making sure the kid was happy and content. It had been amusing to see a child happily scampering around the Akatsuki headquarters, not knowing that he was living with S-rank criminals. Even more amusing was the fact that the kid had openingly adored Itachi, Konan, and Tobi. The kid even cried when he found out that Sasori had died. He was probably the only one who cared.

Abandoning the boy had been the plan as well and Pein had watched the whole thing as the leader took the boy to the desert.

'If you be a good boy and wait here. Your okaa-san will come for you, ok?'

Then they left, watching from a distance as the boy patiently waited, excited at the prospect of seeing a mother he never knew.

They had purposely picked that spot where the boy was sitting because any day now a pack of sand nins were going to crossed it.

They waited for three days. The leader always made sure the boy got some bits of food to eat without letting the kid know that they were watching. Seeing the kid wait was pretty entertaining. It got boring, though, and Pein had sand in places he didn't know he could get sand in.

He hated the desert.

On the third day, sure enough, four sand jounin had came and the boy easily picked out who he wanted his mother to be. It was ironic. Of the two kunoichi there, the boy had picked the Kazekage's sister. Pein expected the girl to gush over the cute little boy and instantly pick him up. To his surprise, the kunoichi, Temari of the Sand, just threw down a canteen of water and left without looking back.

"Cold," Pein muttered. He watched as the boy got up and ran after them. He watched them the whole time they were traveling in the desert up until they reached Suna. After that, they had one of their spies report back to them.

Just like the leader predicted, the Sand nin eventually caved and took the boy in. The leader's plan went without a hitch. Get the boy attached to his new Okaa-san. Make sure nothing stands in the way of their bonding.

Then, Orochimaru had to butt himself in and Pein had to go in for damage control. Beside Orochimaru, the only other surprise had been the reappearance of Uchiha Sasuke, who had came out of nowhere to protect the kid, under the guise of revenge on Orochimaru. It was understandable. The kid, Gaara is his name now, has Uchiha DNA in him. Poor kid. Not for all the money in the world would Pein want to be related to either Sasuke or Itachi. Or that orange clad idiot, Naruto.

"He stayed?"

Pein looked up when the leader arrived. "Yeah."

"Good," the leader left almost as quickly as he came.

The last part of the plan wouldn't be activated for another few years, not until the boy grew up a bit more. Pein could see it now, as if the future was spelled out in front of him.

One day, after being release from school, Gaara would walk home excited. In his hand he would hold his examination report, eager to show his mother what he scored. He would be eager to tell her about the praises his teachers showered on him, not because he was the nephew of the Kazekage, but because he had real potential. He wanted to become a jounin like his mother. His aim was no doubt to eventually become Kazekage like his namesake.

Unable to wait, he would run all the way there, not stopping until he sees the door. The moment his hand touch the doorknob he would probably feel it. That strange wrongness. He would hasty open the door, calling for his mother only to stop in the doorway, in horror. All the boy could see was the pool of blood. His eyes and mind wouldn't allow him to acknowledge the woman lying in it. Then, at the height of his pain, his sharingan would appear, this time much stronger, much more powerful than anything seen yet, and then the leader would step in again. Ready to claim back his son.

Pein shook his head. He liked the kid. While the kid was there, Akatsuki had been a much more lively bunch. He hoped the kid enjoyed the time he had left with that sand nin. Without knowing it, Temari of the Sand's death, will bring in a whole new order to the world. One in which Akatsuki rule supreme.

Owari

AN: Please don't kill me. Nothing in the future is set in stone. To be honest, I imagine that Sasuke would be watching over the mother and son, trying to prevent a repeat of the past. Ie. The day he found his own family murdered. Or maybe Shikamaru saves the day, future, somehow. Maybe it's Kakashi, or Naruto. Or an Iruka-kitty. Now that would be amusing. I wrote this story, because Temari is my favorite character, not just because Paku Romi is my favorite voice actress though that's a huge part of it, but because I happen to like how Temari kicks ass.

Anyway, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, so please don't sue. This fic is just something that sprung from my imagination and I hope someone out there likes it. I should mention that I have horrible grammar skills. English is not my first language, so if there's any mistakes, I'm very sorry. I know how annoying bad grammar is and I try to catch them all, but even then I'll probably miss a bunch. Anyway, Let me stop writing. Hope you enjoyed the story!