Desert Melody

The night air is cold and bitter, which is a great contrast to the humid heat and beating sun of the day. Even the usually burning sand is set to just a simmer. Even the heart of one desert shinobi is not set a blaze as it usually is. Just like days in Suna, her heart started off burning, but now is beginning to freeze.

The desert rose. The best way to describe Temari. No not the flowering plant found in tropical regions, but the crystal found in deserts. Yes a crystal with a formation of gypsum and barite that assumes the shape of petals. That is how Temari feels as her eyes stare into the moon. A dirty rock only trying to take on the form of a beautiful rose.

Ever since the day the blonde was born she was tough. A hard personality. A person born as a warrior with a large amount of responsibilities. As a child from a village that has born itself on quality ninjas rather than quantity. As the daughter of the Kazekage, many responsibilities were to be expected. She was to be a strong shinobi. A soldier of Sand superior to most, if not all other sand ninjas.

The young sand rose sits on top of a roof. Her fan closed and across her knee so that she can watch her reflection from the glistening moon. Her mind thinks back to younger days. Before she knew of all her obligations. At the time the girl went along with her father's request to be an elite fighter. With each training session, her body grew stronger and taller. She grew fiercer. Yet the usual repercussions for power is loneliness. The desert crystal succeeds in being a rock, but it fails in being a rose. Temari continuously succeeds in being a warrior, but as woman she fails.

The girl lets out a chuckle in this forlorn night. So what if she couldn't be with somebody? So what if she didn't know how to? The kunoichi prefers to be a warrior. To feel the lust of battle. To face off against an opponent with uncertainty where she must use her mind as much as her body to get victory. That feeling is what the desert rose lives for. That's what makes her petals bloom.

Yet the blonde still feels lonesome. "It's only because it's Valentine's Day. Besides I have so many obligations. It's not really my fault." The girl mutters to herself letting her turquoise eyes settle on the glimmering iron. To a degree it's true. As the Kazekage child she's expected to excel. Her training became much more rigorous when it was decreed she couldn't go to the chuunin exams a year ago. Luckily this year she was able to go and compete. Even though she suffered a humiliating win, things got complicated during the exams to say the least. "I'll get that slothful deer next time." Temari growls to herself clutching her closed fan tightly.

Her analytic mind continues on it's reflection of the past. A good amount of her time has always been spent on her sleepless brother. Always constantly and fearfully watching him to make sure his horrible side is not awakened. Because of that she could never really ask any boys out. They were too afraid. Who wouldn't be? To try and ask out a girl whose father is the strongest ninja in the village and whose brother is constantly three grains of sand away from becoming the ultimate terror. It is only because of a coin flip that Kankuro was able to be released from watching the demonic child tonight. Heads for him and tails for Temari. He had better luck tonight…or a two headed coin.

The girl lets out a smirk and glares at her reflection in the steel weapon. Who would want to go out with her anyway? It's not like she's Suna's top model or the next kunoichi to be featured in Icha Icha Special Edition. Her blonde locks were just tangles and knots, intermingled with sand. Pulled back and tied into four wild pony tails. There was a time when the girl had her hair cut short, but she wanted to try and be more feminine so she let it grow out. It began to get in the way during battle so she tied it back to get out of the way. Her skin, although free from any sort of life lasting scars, is still tough and hard as a male's. Her hands are not very soft, but calloused from months of training. Even her fingernails didn't hold any cute color such as robin's egg blue or maroon, but just a constant layer of sand.

It isn't like she made up with it with personality either. Besides her brothers, the blonde is brutal to everyone. If her devil of a sibling could not scare off a boy (which probably meant they were suffering from sort of mental sickness) then Temari easily would. The girl knew it too. Not that she wanted to, but this side of her just came out. Any man who has fought her could tell you of her cruel tendencies. It's ok though. Temari's a warrior. A fighter. That's all she ever wants to be. The thrill of battle is all she needs.

Yet sometimes she wishes to know what it would be like to be treated like a normal flower. Although these feelings only come around this day of the year. Where many in the village go around with their soul mates, holding hands, kissing cheeks, and grabbing personal parts. Even the puppeteer tonight is out having his fun with a kunoichi. The sand flower's demonic brother won't even spend time with her. His own mind lures him out to gaze at the white orb in the sky by himself.

Those aquamarine pupils turn from her reflection in disgust and look towards the stars. She is a desert rose. Her hair is not glossy with an unusual yet alluring color and her eyes are not captivating like leaf's spring flower. Her hair is not extremely long nor her skin soft like leaf's autumn flower or sound's silent bell. Nor is she gentle like the Hyuuga outcast or the accurate loner. She could not seduce the tragic survivor or the pompous genius. Can't even grab the attention of the sloth, the insect, or the drop outs.

It's ok though. Temari would rather be a fighter. Beating the crap out of all of them would be much more pleasing than alluring them. A desert rose she is. If the blonde had to choose between her hardness and petals then she'd choose to be solid.

As the silence of the night proceeds, the humming of someone is joined with the sound the sand makes in the wind. The desert wind's analytical mind first thinks that it is her brother who suffers from insomnia. Yet that doesn't make sense. Why would he hum?

The girl twists her body to a surprise. A body shrouded in mystery like how the sand hides its victims. Cameo pants and a robe with sleeves far to long for the ninja. Bandages conceal everything, but the left eye and a fur lay on this hunchback figure. The headband shows he's from the village that is located in Rice Field country. The boy stays a few meters away from the girl, paying attention to the blonde for an instant and then returning to his humming. Dosu also stares at the moon. Normally Temari would stay silent and ignore such a broken person, but hours of brooding and bitterness has made her lips eager for a bit of exercise.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead? Didn't my brother…" the kunoichi began, but is cut off by the bandaged shinobi. "That became an interesting development. You'd be surprised how much a few seconds can make a difference.". "So why aren't you enjoying Valentine's with anyone?" the blonde continues to ask allowing one of her pupils to shift on the boy. "Not my style. I don't really have the look for it. Halloween is more fitting for me." the sound boy replies getting a tiny grin out of Temari. Whether the comment was meant to be funny or not, only the furred ninja knows. So the rigid conversation continues.

Any passing by ninja on survailance or patrol would probably think of the absurdity of the two. "Whose that mongrel with the sand princess?" most would probably say. Yet perhaps it isn't as absurd as it seems.

Ever since that fated day where Dosu had to adorn his bandages, he's been alone. Rather he prefers it. For the most part he has kept fateful to that. There were his teammates, but there is only so far the three would allow each to know one another. Even though Dosu, the gold bell, and the loyal wolf are teammates, the three couldn't be anymore alone. Each have their own agenda. Dosu. He is a warrior. A tune far astray from any other melodies. The excitement of battle is what he loves. To plunge himself into the unknown, the mystery and observe it. To see if his miserable body will allow him to live another day or if his eulogy would be sung the following day. That is the enjoyment this lost melody gets. To kill warriors until eventually he could be strong enough to return the favor of those that confined him to a mummified state. Friends? Companionship? There is no need for that. Not for a merciless fighter such as himself.

As it is for any two fighters, the blood begins to boil and the thirst for battle consumes. Only the two ninja that stare at the moon know the full situation of their conversation. To the rest of any audience we will never know who started it. It is fact though that Temari picks up her iron fan and Dosu reveals his musical weapon.

So the desert flower and the lost melody give in to their primal instincts of violence, murder and enjoyment.

Next to be heard is the sound of sand. The clashing of a strange desert melody. Temari's constant battle cries as her device unleashes waves after waves of devastating wind. The wind that conjures up sandstorms and makes the whole area a dusty haze of minerals. Dosu's constant advances within the darkness of Suna's night, like some type of shadowed fox or shady leopard. His attacks need no battle cry like the kunoichi's. They are just swift, silent, and deadly. His attack almost reaches the blond, but to no avail. Despite his crippled look, Temari is beginning to realize Dosu is no push over. She doesn't know how his move works, but it can be a knock out if she gets attacked by it. Her mind quickly tries to analyze the most probable distance and speed that his invisible attack can work. Of course this is no guarantee. She's yet to see everything the sound shinobi can do. The girl then lets her tounge cross her lips, brushing away the sand sticking to it. This is the battle she's been waiting for. A battle that she hasn't had in a while. Not a battle where she can easily crush her opponent like in the second part of the chuunin exams. Nor and enemy that easily outmatches her like the avenger. A battle similar to the one with the shadow sloth. One where she can be mentally and physically wasted after the match. A battle where she can unleash the inner beast in her heart and hold nothing back.

Another explosion of wind, sand and fury sends Dosu a few meters back. It would not be an easy battle. Interesting is much better a word. Training with his rabid teammate has gotten the bandage shinobi used to long rage fighting as well as wind like attacks. Long rang has never been easy for him. Yet that's what makes the kill even more enjoyable. Especially an opponent like her, who can examine his movements within seconds and calculate her next attack. Someone who wouldn't just die within the first few seconds of battle. A fighter who he can finally release and awaken the darkness in his soul and attack in full fury. To know that once he's killed this person he'd have actually fought a warrior.

Through the dust storm and the whirling blaze of sand. Through the columns of winds, the sound boy prepares to unleash wrath upon his adversary.

Tens of minutes pass. Neither retreating. Both unrelenting. The two like chess pieces trying to reach the end of the board on the other's side and attain victory. Temari uses her wind weapon for an aerial advantage. Causing that small sandstorm to blind the boy would be a good enough cover to get enough altitude. Or so she thought. When a hand burst through her second moon, the sand girl lets out a yelp of surprise. The weight of two persons on a weapon made for one body eventually catches up and the two fall like stones into the sandy ground. Perfect time for ambush in the dust balls of sand. His own eye has already assess as to where Temari's body would be as they fell back to the land. What the sound warrior did not take into consideration is this sand amazon's violent temper. Reaching the area to find no one his mind realizes the blonde is a step ahead of him. She is standing there with a malevolent glare, the fan fully open and the most left moon punched out. She cries out the name of a jutsu and the strongest whirlwind yet drives towards the hunched warrior. He tries to block the attack with his own weapon. The wind continues to push him, trying to entangle him in windy death. The pressure finally cuts into the boy's melody weapon unleashing a horrible screech that would lead Dosu to the next advantage. The ninth explosion tonight is heard in Suna.

Dozen's of minutes pass by. No time for Temari to think of her enternal wounds that brought her to the moon tonight. No time for Dosu to contemplate his scars that never heal that were engraved into him years ago. There is only time to attack, defend or evade, evaluate and attack again. Minutes, seconds, mili seconds continue to pass until finally an hour and a quarter pass by. The sound of battle and war subsiding. The building they were on torn and broken in by sand and sound. The only reason it didn't fully collapse is because the battle moved on to a sandy battlefield where lovers looking for a good look at the moon had to flee.

The air glistening with raining sand, the mummy like boy falls on his posterior. He still keeps torso up, but just barely. His robe lace with rough cuts from the wind. The melody arm in no better condition. The weapon discarded somewhere within the sand. The bandages on his face almost intact, except for a few loose pieces on top of his head showing some dark brown hair. Another bandage falls off revealing his right eye, which is a weird curelean color.

The desert princess in no better condition. Her own attire ripped and stretched. A small trickle of blood trails from her right ear down her cheek. She uses her steel fan, which is now closed, to aid in standing, but that is to no avail when the girl crashes down on her knees in front of her opponent. Yet still it is not over. Both minds calculating distance, both parties with a swift hand and both with a weapon. At each other's throats, Temari holding shurikien and Dosu gripping a kunai.

Now that the boiling blood of battle runs dry in both of their bodies. Their frames perspiring like waterfalls and breathing as if the next breath maybe their last. It is a fight both of them have been searching for a while. Even though both have to concede to a draw neither will forget the battle.

Dosu has to plant both his hidden arms in the sand to keep his upper torso propped up. Temari's head falls on his lap. She doesn't bother to pull herself up though. There was no danger. For now their warrior hearts are kindred. Besides he's too tired to move either. Together they gaze at the moon as the wind picks plays with some of the sand.

"Where's your Valentine?" the sound shinobi utters his first words in the past hour. Temari takes her eyes off the moon to look into the boys brown and blue pupils. "This isn't really my style either. Guys are supposed to ask girls to be their Valentine. No one has asked me, so here I am." the sand rose tells him, still gasping for air. A few minutes of silence and viewing the scenary pass. "Well then will you be my Valentine?" Dosu asks nonchalntly. This causes the peach face of the girl to suddenly take on a rosy color. No boy has ever asked her anything like this before! A true shock to her system that leaves her mouth about to babble like a two year old.

"I..uhh..we-well…"

"Unless you don't want to. Perhaps you're just waiting for someone else."

"N-No.. I mean yes..I mean sure."

With that the bandaged boy nods and return to his stargazing. It's hard for anyone to tell whether he was happy, mad, sad or anything because the bandages seem specifically made to deter anyone from guessing whatever emotions the sound ninja is thinking. "So where are you carrying me? Or what are we going to do now?" the girl asks, her eyes trying to count all the celestial objects in the sky. The furred boy lets out a curious sound. The kunoichi never really meant anything by the comment. Just a passing thought she had the urge to release. Yet when her company says that perhaps there is something it surprises her. Suppressed feminine feelings begin to surface as anxiety to know the boy's plan takes over. Temari asks him, not as gentle as she planned, forgetting how tired her body is and arching her head up.

The sudden movement of this wild cat catches Dosu off guard. His grounded arms lose their placement and it's either fall backwards or try and catch himself falling forwards. Well unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, he decides to go forward. So as one head ascends, the other descends and for grain of sand in time Temari receives her first kiss ever.

A strong forearm pushes Dosu back as Temari tries to compose herself, which is almost impossible at the time. The warrior and woman within at a conflict of feelings. Her first kiss! Well maybe not legitiment. I mean it was unexpected and his mouth is covered by a good layer of bandages. She could not taste him, although for that second she did feel him.

"Taste him? What the hell is going through my mind." The kunoichi frivously wonders. Other thoughts, new thoughts that she's never had before run like flowing sand dunes through her mind. Did he enjoy it? Was I ok? I should have had some lip gloss on me. I probably got sand on his bandages. Her thoughts would keep trying to exceed the speed of light if her acquaintance didn't break the train of thought.

"Well?"

His lone word breaks her into another volley of infant sentences. The masked boy just stares at her, no bodily expression giving away his thoughts on what just occurred. "Shall we continue?" the boy boldly states. The blond slightly bewildered by his statement with other thoughts running through her mind that she would consider ridiculous a few minutes ago. Thoughts of if he wants to continue, whether she should continue, who should move in first. Be subtle, be aggressive?

While Temari continues to use her analytical mind to calculate her next decision, Dosu returns to his feet. What thoughts are rushing through his head no one will ever know. There is one thing that is surely on his mind though. Battle. His eye finds just what he was looking for. The boy picks up his deadly instrument and equips back to his arm. Temari still isn't too sure what to make of these feelings, but a battle is one thing she knows for certain. The girl picks up her metallic weapon and the two once again are at a stand off in the sandy arena.

Despite the hardened exterior she shows tonight she's almost glad. For once Temari feels like a girl. This has been her best valentine's day in all of her fifteen years. Actually it's been the only one that she's celebrated. She's found a strong adversary. Not a person who is afraid of her or her family. Not one who is weak and can't last. A person who has brought out both the warrior and woman within her simultaneously. It amazes her that this crippled youth, and not a Uchiha or Hyuuga, would be the one to do this to her. Enough of those whimsical thoughts though.

Temari must be a desert rose first which is why she opens out the giant fan behind her back. Dosu pulls the sleeve up on his arm letting the moonlight radiate off his weapon. They both are warriors and even though the blood ran cold for a while, like a volcano it begins to burn again for battle. That and being alone were the two things they could agree on. Well not being alone tonight anyways.

"Let's continue where we left off. I don't like to draw."

"Heh. Nor do I. Time to finish you."

"Ohh and Happy Valentine's Day."

"Same to you. Now come."

Once again the collision of sand and sound could be heard throughout the night. Their own little dance that only these two warriors can comprehend. Until the sun rises the desert melody could be heard throughout the night.