DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Not a well written chapter at all. Not exciting either. Ugh, I’m disappointed in myself. Oh well, at least I’m trying to work on the story… But trust me, it needed to be here, or the story would really have gotten confusing (more so than it already is).

Road Blocks

"There is only one happiness in life,
to love and be loved."
- George Sand –

“Damn it, Kankuro.” Gaara said aloud as he began to re-file the misfiled paperwork, thanks to a certain brother he sometimes wished he didn’t have. “I ask for a simple favor before he leaves and he can’t even do it right.”

Gaara had been particularly irritable the last couple days. Whether they noticed it or not, no one would have ever said so. The Kazekage paced his office, tired of straightening out the rush job Kankuro had done earlier. Even a task like this could not distract his mind from other matters. First and foremost, his council was being difficult—not wanting to approve of any of his recent decisions concerning the village. Any attempt to start improvements to the four main watch towers or crackdown on black market weapons sales in 9th district had been denied. Missions to the smaller towns bordering Suna to extend an offer to help repair damaged buildings or fields also denied. The truce between Suna and Konoha was still on rocky ground and Gaara had been putting a lot of time and effort into convincing the council that a solid peace treaty would greatly benefit them, but at every meeting the old traditionalists would insist that Konoha had nothing to offer them, only everything to take. And on top of that, his repeated proposal to invite a diplomatic representative from Konoha had been shot down without much argument or second thought.

Gaara was losing his patience.

Then there were the rumors. Rumors had been flying around the village about his brother and sister, and Gaara was not about to put up with their disrespect for Kankuro or Temari.

“She is a slut!” They started saying. “Did you know that she is buying favors for Gaara by selling herself in Konoha! Those ninjas have no respect.”

“Maybe Gaara-sama asked her to do it? Maybe she’s trying to infiltrate?”

“I doubt it! Temari-san is much too strong to stoop to that. She must have a lover! She is a traitor to her village and Gaara-sama doesn’t even know it!”

“Where does Kankuro-san fit in to all this? I mean no one really sees him anymore. He’s always off doing top-secret missions at Gaara’s bidding, or that’s what they say. I think he’s gathering up a group to overthrow the Kazekage and take his rightful place as older brother in the family…”

“Listen to yourselves! Gaara-sama saved us! He would never betray Suna nor would his siblings!”

“Really? Then how do you explain the council’s behavior? Awfully defiant lately; don’t you think something must be up?”

Argh! It really angered Gaara hearing these things and he was working himself up again thinking about it. Lucky for those he heard it from, he knew better. His patience had also grown a lot since the burden of Shukaku was removed from him. As the Kazekage however, he needed trust and respect from the villagers. He thought after Chiyo baa-san had returned him to life and Shukaku gone that the village had finally come to their senses as had he and that the village would be headed in a brighter direction. And it was, at first. Sadly, the glory of actions like Chiyo’s sacrifice diminishes over time. What once united a village, a nation, is too quickly forgotten.

However, none of this was what was really bothering Gaara. He walked to the large window that faced in the direction of the leaf village, full moon in plain view, and shut his black lined eyes.

“She should be finding out about now. I wonder if she’ll love me or hate me after this.”