Attitude change

Sato was walking with his hands in his pocket; his wide smile proved how much fun he was having walking around Konoha.

But Sato wasn't walking normally; sometimes he walked faster, and sometimes he slowed down out of nowhere, which forced someone to keep up with him hastily. 

'Stay still!'

Temari screamed in her head but kept running around with a shaky smile. She was fanning Sato as well as she could while trying to keep up with his sudden movements. 

She had to do her job well; she didn't even want to think about what would happen if she messed up her duty. Her village would be finished if they lost against Konoha.

*Huff*

*Huff*

But Sato didn't seem to care; he kept turning randomly here and there, making it harder and harder for Temari to keep up with him, which was making her pant with exhaustion. 

"Sato kun.."

Hinata, the kindhearted girl, couldn't see this any longer; she pulled Sato's clothes and looked at him with a wry smile.

Much to Temari's relief, Sato finally stopped after his wife asked him to. Yet his smile didn't go away; he just pulled Hinata's cheek and asked, without caring if Temari was here.

"Are you wondering why I am making things difficult for her?"

Hinata nodded. She rarely sees Sato act like this with anyone, but he was purposely causing trouble. 

Sato took back his hands and looked up at the sky; it was blue and full of light.

"See the sky Hinata, a world full of light? This is what her and her brother Kankuro's lives are like."

Pointing towards a dark alley full of flies, Sato spoke again.

"And that is her younger brother Gaara's life. A world filled with darkness and despair."

"You would think she would reach out to her brother; she would try to share her happiness, her light, with her unfortunate brother."

Looking at Temari with an emotionless face, Sato spoke slowly. 

"But she never did. All she cares about is staying away from her brother; her cozy life comes first, and her brother's torment is second."

"She is so afraid of getting hurt that she would rather belive Gaara is a monster, than try to help him in his time of need."

Gaara wasn't a maniac nor was he hopeless; his life was pathetic simply because his father was the biggest piece of shit in hidden sand. 

All Gaara needed was recognition that someone loved him, that his purpose wasn't just to be a weapon made to kill.

And what did Temari and Kankuro do in this situation? Regularly act like Gaara was an insane demon with zero interest in getting to know him or help him.

"If she is going to treat her brother like a monster with no care for his well-being, she will get the same treatment from me."

Sato emotionlessly spoke every word, which made Hinata let go of Sato's clothes and look at Temari with a disappointed gaze.

Haku also distanced himself from Temari and stopped cooling her down with his ice release, something he was doing sneakily to help her.

"I didn't! You don't understand Gaara; he is a monster! He kills people without reason."

Temari was pale; she stuttered an argument, but Sato shook his head.

"And how do you know that? Your loser father told you so? Think! You idiot! If Gaara kills randomly, how is a weakling like you still alive?"

"You are his sister; you spend so much time with him; you have definitely made him angry before, but you are still alive!"

"It's because he doesn't want to hurt you; he simply doesn't have a choice but to act this way; nobody taught him otherwise."

Sato was telling Temari the truth about Gaara; and there was a reason that he was doing this. Besides helping the unfortunate Gaara, he wanted Gaara's loyalty. 

That's right, Gaara was incredibly loyal to Naruto after Naruto helped him out of his despair. Sato wanted that loyalty for himself. 

'Now, if everything goes well, she will try to connect with Gaara, and in return, tell him that I am helping him.'

Sato smiled; it was really easy to read and manipulate such inexperienced people. Temari threw herself into the trap the second she decided to believe Sato.

"Is that true..? I- I am sorry "

"I am sorry. I didn't know."

Temari suddenly started sobbing and apologizing; this was something that caught Sato off guard. He didn't think she would be this weak mentally; she was supposed to be a ninja!

*Wipe*

Sato took out a handkerchief and calmly wiped Temari's tears. He still had his emotionless face, but Temari felt his hands were so gentle. 

This was her imagination; she was feeling this because Sato always acted disgusted with her; even a small act of kindness from him felt heavenly to Temari.

"It looks like you understand; now keep this and stop crying. It's getting hot; do your job."

"If you do a good job, I'll let you go. You can apologize to your brother then."

Sato handed her the handkerchief and turned around. Temari held it blankly, then gently put it away.

*Whoosh*

She wiped her tears again, then fanned Sato with renewed energy. It was as if she had seriously decided to do this job.

'Sato Sama did it again; the Kazekage's daughter is seriously considering herself a maid. Scary.'

Haku shuddered; he felt absurd looking at Temari, who was now smiling and trying to help Sato around like a maid should. Sato flipped her attitude completely.

Haku could only guess how Sato managed to predict she would act this way, then he shook his head and decided not to think about it. He was too stupid to understand such things. 

"Where do we go from here, my lord?"

Temari asked happily; she was really starting to get into character. Sato laughed lightly without care; she could continue however she wanted. 

"I don't want to do anything in particular; I do want to ask about my business though."

"Okay, let's go meet someone from Fugaku's family."

Sato rubbed his chin and made a decision: he wanted to finish his business today so that tomorrow he could participate in the chunin exams.

He was going to blow everyone out of the water in this exam. This was Konoha; he could go all out without a care in the world.

He had to make an impression from the start, the real Chunin exams will be interrupted by Orochimaru, Sato had to show off his strength right from the beginning.

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon 

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