political manoeuvre . Ho. Now everything makes more sense. If it is political manoeuvring then I'm leaning towards Tsunade's hands in this. Going to war with Sand would have been costly. Sure, Leaf would have won but the casualties would have been staggering, add the fact that Sound is lying in wait and Akatsuki may attack anytime, one really isn't that surprised that Tsunade would want to instil good will between Leaf and Sand. I definitely agree with you on the spies front, but I also think Tsunade won't interfere with Sand as long as Sand stays an ally to Leaf. Ohhhh, I love politics. Cloak and dagger is all fun. (Maybe Temari is there as a sign of good will. Or something. There need to be more. This guessing is all fine but I'd really like to know just what sort of political situation Sand and Leaf is at. And I'd want to see Gaara!)

Kimimaro who was female OMFG! And still having similar powers! *___* You have no idea how happy I'm at that thought. Kimimaro=Girl. Oh wow. I think Naruto's emotional strength lies in his never-die attitude, in his will to believe in people, in his ability to change those around him. Sakura is growing, and that makes me very happy, and I fully believe that she'll be a great person when she fully grows. Ah, future fics. How I adore thee. (Sasuke... Sasuke will never grow until Itachi is dead. Then it is a matter of whether he can survive his brother's death. The tragedy with Sasuke is that he can't be anything because Itachi has managed to completely destroy his life before Sasuke can learn that there are other ways to grow.)

(But that just shows us how cool Temari is. Though I wish Temari had being fighting a guy instead and kicked his arse as well. But oh well. Ohhh, kidnapping young boys, and doing things to them *giggles*)