Fire in the Night
an excerpt

Naruto future AU fanfiction. Comment and mock away!
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Gaara did not come around his desk or hold out his hand to Naruto for a handshake, to which Naruto took no offense; Gaara's upbringing was not one that conditioned him to be more genial than necessary with old acquaintances. Neither was Gaara being expressly, needlessly polite; he knew, as did Naruto, that a visiting Hokage was enttled to take a seat without being given prior permission to, and that was what Naruto did.

"I'm glad there are as many Genin from Konoha as those from Suna who have reached the final round of the exam," he told Gaara, grinning. "Otherwise I'd have to flatter you about the future abilities of the Suna Genin." When Gaara merely looked blank, Naruto squinted past him at the circular windows. "So - have you got something you want to talk to me about?"

"One question only. How would Konoha feel if the Kazekage resigns before his time?"

"Eh?" Naruto stopped himself from gaping in time, and glowered at Gaara. "Wait a minute - are you kidding me? Why the hell would you want to resign?"

"Hypothetically speaking, that is. Yes or no?"

Naruto mulled this over. "First, I have to know the reason. Did that opposition group succeed in bringing you down and setting up someone else in your place? Suna is Konoha's ally, but we're not supposed to get embroiled in internal conflict. We'd have to acknowledge the Kazekage, whoever it is. What, are you planning to get yourself killed by the rebels?"

"No." Gaara sounded pensive. "Say I resign by own decision. No rebels, no outside influence."

"There's got to be an influence. Village leaders don't just step down because they feel like it."

"They can, when they judge or are judged to be inept."

"You are not inept."

Gaara's light-colored eyes, whose black rings were not so pronounced these days, bore into him. "As you said, internal conflict within Sunagakure will be none of Konoha's business. I do my utmost best in my capacity as the village leader, but the elders also hold sway over the governmental process and succession. A new Kazekage may or may not be reinstated in my stead."

"Huh." Naruto looked dour. "Konoha will support whoever it is that Suna sees fit to be Kazekage, but there's no good reason why you should retire yet. I've known you for a long time, and I'll damn well lend my support to you, whether you like it or not. Because you deserve it."

"I see. Thank you very much for your faith in me."

It took a moment for the meaning to sink in; when it did, Naruto was incredulous. "Hold it. Were you actually testing me?"

"I wasn't. I asked you a question, and you supplied me with an answer. That's all there is to it."

At the inn foyer, Naruto had merely laughed soundlessly: now he broke into a hearty peal of laughter. Gaara remained calm and expressionless throughout the bout of mirth. "Yeah, I'll support you, all right," Naruto said as his laughter tapered down into snickers. "You deserve it a lot more than I thought."

---

Being a desert village, there were precious few trees to be found in Sunagakure, if at all. Shikamaru sat on the window ledge in his room, gazing unseeingly at a slice of moon that had just peeped from behind the clouds. He was idly thinking that playing shougi would be less fun in an arid land; trees, slight breeze and cool porches were what did the trick. Without those, your concentration lost some of its finer edges.

Across the room, the door opened and closed again without a single sound. Shikamaru smothered a yawn. "Man, I'd be so happy when this Chuunin exam business is over and done with," he confessed to the window frame. "Lee wouldn't agree with me, but each of those kids needs a lot more practice and exposure to life-and-death fighting before he or she can mature into a shinobi that Konoha can rely on. We're rather short on prodigies nowadays."

Temari had not moved from the door since she entered. "Have you heard that I'm no longer the officer in charge of dealing with Suna's allies?"

"Uh-huh. What of it?"

"Nothing, I guess." She glided toward the window, pulling her hairbands out of her thick, wiry hair. "I'll be stuck here all year long, to act as Gaara's deputy. You'd be glad to be rid of me. A nice counterbalance."

"His deputy, eh? Does that mean you won't be coming to Konoha ever again?"

"Who knows?" Having reached the window, she sat down on the floor, legs sticking out, head against the window ledge. Her shoulders were sagging. He could sense weariness, held back by arduous years of self-discipline and training, emanating from her pores. "Or you won't come here. Same difference."

"Sounds like it's a wearisome job, being a deputy."

"Can't be certain yet – I've only been on it for less than a week. What I can say is that being a liaison officer is more enjoyable. I get to roam around, discover new things, meet people. See how many of them I can intimidate."

His fingers had alighted on her shoulder. "And making decisions is such a bother. But Gaara trusts you, and you're not going to let him down."

"I hate to be so exemplary and virtuous, but that's what old and venerable age has reduced me to. Ow. Thank you kindly, but no, I can massage my own shoulder."

"Don't be obtuse. Any three-year-old knows that a massage is more effective when somebody else is doing it." An abrupt pressure on an acupunctural point, and she gave a breathless yelp. "See? You wouldn't be able to do that using your own hand."

"You just have to win every time, don't you?"

"If I can." They were silent for a few moments as his fingers kneaded and probed. "Three Genin from Konoha and three from Suna. How many of them will pass the exam, do you think?"

"Oh, who cares? Passing the Chuunin exam doesn't mean you'll go on to do great things for your village. Traitors and missing nin have been known to pass their Chuunin exams with flying colors. Stop asking questions, will you? Anyway, I thought you've had enough of exams."

"You're right, I have. Do you suppose – "

It had been a long day, and she had had another debate with an elder that she did not want to burden him with; talking to him and lounging there on the floor had helped her relax and gradually unwind. His tone, however, had brought her up sharp. "Do I suppose what?"

"Nothing." His fingers were gone from her shoulder, and she sat up straight. "I was just woolgathering. It's nothing important."

She was piqued. "Say it, or I'll shake it out of you. You know I will, too."

"No doubt."

"Yes. Plus, I haven't sicced Kamatari on anyone for ages. If there's any resulting damage to this room, I'll pay for the repairs out of my own pocket. So spill it."

He stuck his little finger into his ear and began digging. "I was just thinking that if you go to live in Konoha, there'll be no need for all this hassle." The finger came out, was wiped nonchalantly against the side of his knee, and resumed its work. "Too bad you're the Kazekage's sister, and an astute analyst as well. You're of too much use here."

"Too bad?" she snarled. "What's this too bad crap? I never once asked you to consider moving into Suna, did I?"

"Hey, forget it. I said that I – "

"Just woolgathering, yes, I heard."

"We've been like this because we're not going to make compromises, either of us, and it's all good so far. I don't want to change it any more than you do. So we'll see less of each other. So what? It only means we're going to argue less."

She whacked him on the thigh, hard enough to leave a bruise. "No one broadens my vocabulary like you have, especially when it comes to names to call dumbasses with."

"You're missing the point: when I said we argue less, I meant it in terms of respect for the public at large. You see, when you're aggravated you tend to be pretty noisy and demonstrative. In Konoha alone, that fan of yours has knocked down more objects than I care to name right now. Mothers are starting to use your name to shut up their children when they cry for too long."

Getting up, she shot him a dirty look, her eyes glinting in the darkness. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Go ahead. And don't use up all the clean towels, like you usually do."

In answer, she stalked off and banged the bathroom door shut.

He contemplated the moon, across which the clouds had sailed back. There were times when he wished he had followed Asuma's lead and succumbed to the lure of lung-corrupting nicotine, and this was definitely one of those times.