A/N: I was reading a story by Peppermint Quartz, that was inspired by a song by the band The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. The song Facedown came to mind, and the muse took over. This story turned out to be a way for me to exorcise some emotional demons from years ago, and as such, there might be situations that don't sit well with some of you, but if anyone could be a survivor, it's Sabaku no Temari. In the language of flowers, Yellow Carnations-Disdain
Hayaku-Quickly
Disclaimer: I'm not Kishimoto, but I thank him for allowing usage of his characters. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus falls into the category of Screamo, but if you've never heard Facedown I hope you'll give it a chance.
A Proper Wife-Chapter 1She was unable to fully appreciate the sensation of flying until she landed on her knees across the room. The pain was excruciating and she cried out, choking and spitting on the ground. The sight of blood mixed with the saliva made her whimper. Wondering if he knocked out the tooth that was already loose or one of her permanent ones, she reached up to find out. His kick to the stomach caused her to forget about her teeth and crumple into the fetal position.
"I don't know what the Kazekage was thinking, wasting an education on you," he sneered. "A proper wife doesn't talk back to her husband, and she knows her place. If you expect to live long enough to bear my sons that's something you'd better learn. Hayaku!"
Before she could do more than glare up at him, a kick to the head caused the darkness to engulf her.
Sabaku no Temari sat up panting, she could feel the perspiration on her forehead despite the goosebumps on her arms. Instinctively, she touched her lips, her ribs, her head, and then sighed. It pissed her off that after all this time those events, now little more than dreams, still affected her this way.
Shikamaru 's breathing was deep and even. His black hair was spread out thick and glossy on the white pillow beside her. When she was younger, one of the servants had told her that men liked to have a woman with long hair because it looked nice on a pillow. She smiled, assuming it was part of her contrary nature that caused her to be with a guy whose hair was longer than her own. She ran her hand along one of the strands and marveled at how it shined in the moonlight; the object of her adoration snuffled in his sleep and rolled onto his side.
Temari eased out of the bed and slipped on her robe. She padded down the hall to the open courtyard and closed her eyes, drinking in the warm night air and allowing it to fill her lungs. When she opened her eyes it was to a sky full of stars, little beacons of light shining through the blackness.
O-O-O
Though it had gone against tradition in Sunagakure, she'd never questioned her father's decision to send her to the academy to be educated in the ways of the shinobi. She'd endured the taunts of her male classmates believing that her father knew what was best for her, so a year later when he made the decision to interrupt her schooling and marry her off to the Daimyo's younger brother she didn't question it. He was the Kazekage afterall, his first responsibility was to Sunagakure and it's people. He'd met with the council, decided that it was an alliance that their struggling village couldn't afford not to make, and off she went. She'd been told that at eight years old it would be a marriage in name only, but she would be a member of her husband's household, so she must obey him.
If it hadn't been for Baki stopping by on his way back from a mission…her husband had refused to allow the jounin to see her, so it was only by chance that he'd passed the garden. She'd been sitting alone on the ground planting yellow carnations, her knees bruised and scabbed from the previous day's incident. Her bottom lip was swollen and there was dried blood in her hair. She cried when she saw him, not from relief but from shame. Her husband told her that she'd deserved everything that had happened to her. She was his property now, and as such, must be trained in the ways of his family so that she would be a proper wife. Thus far she'd failed miserably. She was too loud, too abrupt, and hadn't yet learned to mask her true feelings.
What Baki saw enraged him. He feared that if he left her here she would be killed before he could convince the Kazekage that she needed to be rescued. She'd shown real promise as a shinobi during the time she'd spent at the academy, and he hated to see that wasted. His face hardened and he told her to meet him by the gate at midnight, he told her that the Kazekage had requested to see her. This was the only time Baki deliberately defied the Kazekage, and he knew it might very well cost him his own life.
She was spirited away that night, Baki carrying her on his back because walking was too painful. Temari tried not to meet the eyes of any of the other members of his squad; she could feel their anger and thought it was directed at her. Instead she closed her eyes and wondered how soon she'd be sent back.
Immediately upon her return to Sunagakure she was brought before the Kazekage. She registered her father's shock and Baki's raised voice. She remembered the horror in Kankurou's eyes when she looked over at him and tried to smile. The council members were summoned and she was forced to look at them, one by one. Gaara's name was brought up by the red-faced Hideyoshi, but the Kazekage shook his head. A messenger was sent to the Daimyo and Temari was sent to her room.
When she opened her door, Temari found that a servant had drawn her a bath. She stepped gingerly into the warm, lavender scented water; grateful that her fishnets had hidden the bruises on her arms and legs. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but knew that she'd obviously let her village down by being disobedient and weak. She spent the next week recovering in her room. She had no visitors, and wasn't permitted to wander the palace. The only people she saw were the servants who gossiped too loudly about the amount of money paid to buy her out of her marriage contract. Her humiliation intensified, she knew Sunagakure was in dire straits, and instead of easing her father's burden she'd just managed to increase it.
At the end of the week Temari was summoned to the Kazekage's office. She was informed that she would be resuming classes at the academy and would begin training every afternoon alongside her brothers. She was forbidden to ever speak about the two months she'd spent with her husband. When he was finished speaking, the Kazekage faltered and for an instant the coldness left his eyes as he looked at his only daughter, the image of his dead wife.
"Best to move on and forget it ever happened," he said.
O-O-O
"Oi," a sleepy voice called out to her from across the courtyard. "I rolled over and you were gone, are you okay?" Shikamaru walked over and wrapped his arms around her, "your skin's all clammy, are you getting sick?"
Temari smiled leaning into his embrace.
"Just a nightmare," she replied.
