Desert Stars

Attack

Y/n's POV

Rei wakes me up again the next morning, and I let her pick out my outfit again. Today, it's a surprisingly comfortable pair of pants and a flowy blouse that combats some of the desert heat. Rei tells me that I'm to have breakfast in the sitting room with Lady Chiyo, and when I enter the room, it's blissfully Temari-less. The old lady greets me curtly, and I sit down across from her. While I eat a breakfast of onigiri and iced green tea, she walks me through more ettiquite stuff, most of which goes one ear and out the other.

We spend the rest of the day planning over for my first solo social event, which is apparently a tea with some of the daughters and wives of the feudal lords in the area. I'm no stranger to fancy teas, and I actually manage to impress Lady Chiyo with my tea pouring skills.

One point for Y/n, I guess.

I'm about to leave and get ready for dinner when Chiyo stops me. "You have a quick meeting with the Kazekage before dinner. It is a chance for the two of you to get to know each other a little bit before your first public appearance as a couple in a couple of weeks. You'll have more than one such meetings before the event."

"You know, where I come from, dating is a lot less formal," I remark.

Lady Chiyo is unamused. "Well, this is not some Leaf Village teenage romantic fling. This is a political union. Now, Rei will show you to the Kazekage's office."

Suddenly, Rei appears beside me, making me jump. She has a way of just showing up at random times. It's kind of creepy. I follow her through the winding hallways of the mansion until we reach a rather imposing door.

"Good luck," Rei tells me before walking away.

"How reassuring," I mutter, turning back towards the door and raising my fist to knock.

---

Gaara's POV

I rub my temples, struggling to do the simple math that this piece of paperwork requires. I've been having a hard time doing simple work a lot lately. The threat of the Akatsuki combined with Y/n's arrival is taking most of the brain power that I have.

The answer to the sum finally comes to me, and I scribble it down. I sign my name, then move on to the next piece of work.

It's obvious that Dezato sent Y/n to try and distract me, to make me mess up, so the council had a reason to take me out of office. They've never liked me. They didn't like my father very much either. The whole council is just a bunch of power-hungry old men. I guess they see me as an easy target, considering my history.

Knowing that makes me even more determined to prove them wrong. I won't let Y/n distract me, and if she's some sort of spy for Dezato, I won't let her get any valuable information, or manipulate me into doing his bidding. I won't.

I know that she's his laquey, but there's something about her. Something that tells me she isn't some spy, or power hungry rich girl. Sometimes, it genuinely seems like she doesn't want to do me any harm.

She's a frighteningly good actress.

My sand notices someone loitering outside of my office door, and without me even glancing up from my work, a strand of it goes and opens the door. I hear an alarmed little squeak, and I look up to see Y/n standing there, fist still raised to knock, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. It's almost comedic.

She slowly lowers her fist, smiling sheepishly. "Uh. Hi."

"Hello," I say, the strand of sand going back into the gourd on my back. Y/n watches it with wide eyes.