I do not own Naruto.

God, wouldn't that rock, though.

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Once upon a time, there was this girl.

She was amazing in almost every way you could think up. Popular, pretty, stylish, intelligent, athletic, strong, and kind (even if she didn't like to act like it). Not to mention she was the daughter of an extremely rich man, the leader of the country, no less. In that way, she was sort of like a princess.

However, she wasn't the princess type. She wasn't your average damsel-in-distress kind of girl. Loud, cocky, a little bossy, and unafraid to inform you of her opinion, she was a tad unconventional, you know, for a princess.

And, of course, she wasn't without her flaws. She had a bad tendency of being rude, and her cooking seriously tanked, but, all in all, she was a pretty good person.

Back in the day, her entire life had been pretty much fantastic. Everything right as rain.

First of all, her family was almost as perfect as she. Her father, strong and powerful; her mother, kind, gentle, and sweet; and her beloved uncle, caring and understanding.

And her life only kept on getting better. When she was two, her mother gave birth to a little baby brother, a wonderful addition to her family. At first she was a little wary of him, because she had enjoyed being the baby, and she wasn't sure how to act like a good big sister.

Luckily enough, being a sibling, like everything else, came completely naturally to her. She treasured this new brother, and visited him often. She thought her life was absolutely perfect, and was sure that nothing could ruin it.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. While she was enjoying her childhood to the fullest extent, people out on the streets of her father's country were dying. It seemed there wasn't enough food in the world, and neighbouring countries had even sent thieves to steal what little food they had. The King knew he had to do something, had to strengthen his army and ensure safety. One of his advisors told him of a ritual, one to make a "weapon" of sorts. They were sure this tool would be able to protect their country from further harm and thievery.

The King readily agreed, and asked what would be needed for the ritual. The woman who had been asked to perform the ritual explained the details to him.

"First of all," the old lady told him, "I will require a pregnant woman willing to sacrifice her child for the sake of the nation."

The King, needless to say, was a bit surprised, for he had not realised that this 'ultimate weapon' would involve a death. He agreed nonetheless, though, certain saving a country was worth the price of one unborn baby's life.

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When our young, now three-year-old heroine found out her mother was pregnant, she was ecstatic. That meant she'd have a new baby to cherish, a new brother. Or, her uncle informed her, maybe even a sister! She was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

Oddly, she seemed to be the only one who was so overjoyed. Her brother wasn't old enough to understand, although he was a talented child, like herself ('5 months old and already crawling!' her mother would brag.) She got why he didn't care about the whole thing, since he didn't know what miracle was about to happen. What she simply could not comprehend was her father's general indifference, or her uncle's lack of enthusiasm, or, in fact, any emotion at all other than concern and sometimes even anger when her mother burst out crying. Why was she crying? the princess would wonder, Wasn't this a good thing, like before?

When she confronted her father about the matter, he assured her that, yes, this was indeed a good thing, but it wasn't like before, so she had to be a good girl and not put any more stress on her mother. She promised not to be any trouble and left, wondering as she walked away why this time was different than the last.

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Hmm… so, just in case you're a little bit slow (or stumbled upon this fic randomly off of Google or some other search engine and have absolutely no idea what's going on) this is about the sand sibling's family, kind of gravitating off Temari's point of view.

My other fanfic's first chapter was ludicrously long, and this one is oddly short. But only because I'm posting chapter two almost immediately after it.

You know who I like A LOT? People who comment.