A Leaf Fell in the Desert (Kakashi X OC)

Prologue

          Gaara sat in his new office at just sixteen and sighed. "I don't want to send some of my most trusted ninja away during our delicate political situation. But, I'm afraid I don't have a choice. I need people I can trust when it comes to diplomacy."

          "Diplomacy? Excuse me, but we're ninjas not diplomats, Gaara." Temari, his elder sister, was not much of a socialite. Despite her spunky quadruple blonde ponytails, she was incredibly serious and only had experience with combat missions.

          Gaara sighed again, "Look, Temari. I know you don't like the Leaf ninja, but I can't trust any ninja that might oppose me with a mission in foreign territory. Aside from that," he turned to the other blonde kunoichi in his office, "Shizuka, I need you to work with one of the Leaf jounin tracking the whereabouts of the Akatsuki. They already attempted to capture the nine-tails jinchuriki and they seem to have been busy gathering other tailed beast jinchuriki. I assume you understand how that puts both villages at risk. As someone skilled in covert operations, I think this is a good mission to assign you."

          Shizuka seemed to ponder the Kazekage's words. "Not that I'm complaining, but that doesn't sound very diplomatic. And again, not complaining, but didn't you approve my paid vacation to the Land of Tea just last week? We've never gotten vacation before, so of course I can reschedule."

          "I understand your concerns. With regards to diplomacy, you'll be working with a Leaf ninja as your partner since our villages have agreed to share all information on outside threats. Think of this as a trust exercise. In terms of vacation, to travel to the Land of Tea, you'll have to go through the Land of Fire past Konoha to get there anyways. Two birds, one stone as they say. In this folder you'll find information on all of the ninja you'll be working with or in contact with during your time outside of the Land of Wind. Sound good?"

          "Works for me, Lord Fifth. I am curious to see what their village is like. It's been a long time since we were on good terms with the Leaf." Shizuka gave an awkward salute before flipping through the packet.

          "Temari, you'll also be working with some Leaf ninja. A different team than Shizuka, but I think you're already acquainted with at least one of them. Make sure to report back regularly. You may go." Gaara waved the kunoichi off before vacantly staring at his mountain of paperwork.

          That does not seem like a fun job, Shizuka thought to herself.

          After a moment of silent meditation, Gaara opened his copy of the mission folder. The first page was his last correspondence with the new Hokage, Tsunade. She seemed a bit quirky, but definitely wise. He pondered over a couple lines in the letter:

          "It is a bit unorthodox, but I want to request a specific ninja. Shizuka, I don't know her last name, but I have reason to believe she's related to someone from our village. I hope you can honor this request as I have no other preferences. We will accommodate your subordinates with the utmost hospitality."

          Gaara wondered, If she's related to someone in the village, who? And why did Tsunade leave it out?

*NOTE* For the sake of transparency, there will be some decently graphic smut in this story. The chapters will be labeled with the classic lemon emoji, but I will not be breaking immersion by placing content warnings within the prose.

Another point for immersion and mature content comfort, I'm aging up the genin to sixteen. It felt a bit weird to write Gaara as Kazekage at age fourteen. Canonically he is referred to as having the Kazekage title after the death of his father. But, Kishimoto never showed us what that looked like. (Did the elders/current nobles/advisors/his siblings take on some of the duties or is he literally slapped with it all as a kid?) How would Gaara trust anyone from the previous dynasty? If Kankuro took the title instead, why not keep it? Instant Gaara Kazekage felt the most natural without having to create an original trusted advisor, and sixteen felt more reasonable for a child leader. Don't worry Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are as immature as ever.

Still concerning age, Kakashi and the other main jounin are still canonically 26-27 range. Temari is 17 rather than 16, to maintain some age gap between her and the genin. Shizuka, the original character, is 22-23. Kankuro doesn't matter much beyond canon appearances unless ya'll want him in a significant role. He is an entertaining character.

Feedback always appreciated and plot is on the way. The prologue is more of a teaser than a necessity.