21st of June 2010... that's when I put up the first chapter of And Now I'm Stuck Here With You... And today, the sequel is over. I wanna cry, but that would ruin my laptop XD.
So, I don't know anything and, for the last time, enjoy!

Gaara waited for the storm to pass and when it did, he nudged his leader awake so that they could continue their journey. Eventually, they made it back to Suna without being ambushed again. To the redhead's relief, his father had been honest about not trying to kill him anymore.
The war between them was finally over. All that was left was to make peace.

It would take a lot of time. They both knew it. What Gaara had accidentally broken, what his father had then smashed and the pieces both males had continued to crush... It wouldn't be easy to fix. But they had already started doing it.

The Kazekage made an effort to trust Gaara's control. He continuously checked his son's wounds until all of the visible ones had faded. He had almost sighed in relief when he saw that the boy no longer bore the mark his palm had left. It would have made looking into the child's eyes so much more difficult.
He counted Gaara to keep them both safe at night. He tried his best to start conversations, though both shinobi had long grown accustomed to shared silence.

Gaara had tried his best to forgive his father for all that he had done. For trying to kill him indirectly and then directly. For ruining his childhood.
He tried to forgive it all because he knew that it was worth it. Mistakes could be repaired. Some bonds were too precious to give up on. Besides, Gaara accepted that he also had himself to blame for letting himself sink so low.

Both shinobi tried to finish the mission like any other teammate duo. However, both knew that hell would await them at the gates of their home.

Once the Kazekage and Gaara were sighted, the shinobi guarding the village entrance cautiously but efficiently opened the gates.
The pair walked into Suna confidently, not letting their nerves show. Neither knew how to proceed.
The people who saw them pass bowed respectfully but also visibly itched to run away in the overbearing presence of the two most powerful ninja in the village.

"Kazekage-sama... and Gaara-sama!" called out a woman, who gave the two males a relieved smiled.
The redhead felt some of the tension ease off his shoulders. If Reina was giving him a look like that, it obviously meant that she had something important that she needed to tell them. Furthermore, Baki was standing besides the kunoichi, looking glad to see his student alive.
The two jonin joined their superiors on their walk to the Kazekage tower.

"You know what this means right?" whispered the leader under his breath, letting only Baki, Reina and Gaara hear. "The council will find someone to replace me..."
"You haven't lost yet, Lord Kazekage..." huffed Baki, giving his boss a knowing look. The hate he use to show in his eyes at the sight of the Kazekage had slightly dimmed.
"What do you mean?" gasped the man, aching for relief but knowing that he had to stay vigilant.
"You see-... Ah, guards. We came to tell you that you have a meeting with the council. Right now. Go along with what they accuse you for." Reina leaned closer to the Kazekage. "You can thank your daughter later. Now, Gaara-sama, come along. Your father is going to be very busy."

The redhead nodded, confused, and watched as his father separated from them to go to the meeting room. The man turned back to give his son one last glance.
He found the boy looking at him with worried eyes, but the look them melted to give way to an encouraging quirk of the lip.
This gave the Kazekage all of the bravery he needed to go face his fate.

The village leader entered a meeting room that was as silent as a graveyard despite the large number of breathing elderly citizens sitting at the table. They all gave the man an empty look as he quietly slipped into his seat. He made sure to keep his expression serious and authoritative.

"So this meeting." he started. His voice seemed to startle the old geezers back to life.
"Welcome back, Lord Kazekage. Let's get right to the point." the head council member flipped a few papers over. "Your sentimentality alone in the past few weeks could make us question whether or not you are fit for the job as Kazekage. However..."
The old man made a face and the Kazekage held his breath.
"... You managed to fulfill your given task, despite it not being in a... permanent way. We cannot reproach your technique as you have followed the very clear guideline of making the jinchuuriki disappear. We have received the Hokage's response to your letter this morning."

A sheet of paper was passed around the table until it arrived in between the village leader's hands. He made sure that his utter confusion didn't show. He scanned the mail and felt a brick of stress melt off his shoulder at every word.
"Ah, yes. The Hokage has accepted to let my three children stay in Konoha until the next chuunin exam and as long as it is needed. He has also invited me to witness the exams. Since I guaranteed that Baki's team would definitely get to the final rounds, Lord Hokage has invited many lords, including the Wind Lord, to attend the exams to see the three fight especially." The Kazekage straightened the paper, acting as if all was going to plan when really he was just improvising. "The betting stakes will be very high. I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone here... Make Gaara disappear, as instructed, and to bring in many potential clients for Sunagakure. And with the Wind Lord attending the match, the expected revenues are promising. This opportunity is one that the village has been waiting for for years."

The Kazekage's voice had a sense of finality to it. All of the council members looked extremely tempted to object.
"Oh, and the mission to Kumogakure was a success. We will be receiving water supplies starting next month and those are expected to last at least half a year." he added. Inside, he was thanking Temari. With so many successes and with a personal invitation from the Hokage himself, they would not even be able to assassinate him without causing political conflicts outside of, and within the village.
The councilors nodded in defeat.
"Missions accomplished then, Lord Kazekage. So you will be sending Baki's team out as soon as possible?"
"As soon as possible."

The Kazekage walked until the living quarters of the tower, almost excited to share the news with Gaara. He didn't even dread having to see Baki and Reina's faces.
He nearly ran into his daughter, who's eyes widened in surprise.
"Father." she gasped, then seemed to remember something. "Did... Did the letter arrive?"
"You wrote to the Hokage, asking him for help." deadpanned the man.
"Yes. It is old fashioned to deal with problems all alone. Those are what alliances are for." replied the girl, a diplomatic aura surrounding her. Her father suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation of pride.
"You broke into my office. You went through my papers. You forged my signature and handwriting." he declared. Temari blinked, a slight look of shame flooding into her eyes before it completely disappeared.
"Yes. I did." she said, unapologetic.

Without warning, the Kazekage pulled his daughter into a brief but meaningful hug. The girl's jaw dropped slightly in utter shock. Kankuro chose this moment to run in.
"Oy, Temari! Baki and Reina are k-... Um... Uh..." the puppet-nin stared at the scene in shock. The Kazekage and Temari hastily pulled apart. "Hey look, Father is back. Gaara told us what happened. Everything went well?"
The Kazekage chuckled and started walking into the living room. He gave his son a pat on the shoulder and was glad when the boy didn't flinch or brush it away. He knew that his two elder children still resented him for trying to kill them all in a shipwreck. For considering them only an unimportant side effect of attempting to murder Gaara. However, he could tell that by saving Gaara's life he was very slowly starting to gain his kids' trust again.
"Yes. Everything went very well."

Remember something, he turned back to face his children, who were giving him confused but happy looks.
"Temari, you save Gaara's life. And mine." he whispered. "Thank you."
The kunoichi gulped, a smile creeping onto her face. She and her brother followed their father and went to join Gaara as well as Baki and Reina.

Temari could feel it. She could feel everybody's wounds of the heart being slowly stitched up. People around her. Happy. Glad to see each other alive.
She grinned.
"That's what family is for."

End.

*sniff* Sad to see it end but relieved to be able to pass on to something new. So, yeah, I picked Temari as the hero here because of her lack of extreme action heroism in And Now I'm Stuck Here With You. Kankuro saved his siblings from drowning. Baki saved them from the island. Gaara saved Kankuro twice and is pretty much always epic anyways. So it's Temari's turn to save her father and brother.
I hope that you liked the ending. Nice and sweet and cheesy as hell XD. The continuation of the story line is left to your imaginations. You can imagine it continuing to the canon plot if you want or you can spare the Kazekage and create a happy world where he is alive and not a douche.
If anybody still has questions about this fic, please feel free to PM me or to leave an inquisitive review. And yes, Baki and Reina were kissing. BakiReina FTW.
And now, for the last time in ANWST,
Peace, love and coffee,
XOXO ~~~ HimekoUchia (my suitcase smells like cheese shhh don't tell immigration and wow school again not a fan. New TBP chapter up soon as well as a Hetalia fic and also planning a new Gaara-centric fic kay bye )