Warning: the following contains characters and events that may have not happened in the canon story due to some elements being OOC. If this is the case, then it's more than likely that this is due to the author not researching enough to make the story 100% accurate. He sends his apologies if this deeply offends you.
Being in the Nara clan was a curse of its own. Never mind the harsh women who seemed to plague the family tree in marriages that imprisoned the males as whipped servants. No, that was more of an inconvenience than a curse. At least with wives, they took up the roles that were usually too troublesome for Shikaku (especially as a clan leader. He had lost count the times Yoshino had bailed him from clan responsibilities).
The true Nara curse lied in the enormous IQ that came at birth and stayed till death. A high IQ meant a ninja's sense of perception was increased dramatically. One would notice a lot of details that others would foolishly miss: a tripwire here, the sound of a paper bomb barely fluttering in the wind behind a tree there, the smell of an Inuzaka dog hiding in bush all the way on the other side of the training field. If not very distracting, it was helpful most of the times.
Unfortunately, what happened when a ninja couldn't do anything to stop an obvious trap? The fact that before the thought of warning crossed Shikaku's mind, an ambush would immediately take out a member of the squad. There was the thought that if Shikaku could have been faster, the person would still be alive. It haunted him as a young genin and it continued to haunt him as a Jonin. Of course, with the curse came paranoia. "What if" scenarios popped out of Shikaku's mind and caused him to despise being a ninja in general. (He probably would have quit earlier had it not for Yoshino.) So Shikaku did what most experienced ninjas did in their line of work: shut off all sense of emotion. If a person died, too bad. What was done was done. That was that. Zip. Nada. Plop. Dead.
That was supposed to be the ninja code. Don't think with your heart, think with your reflexes.
So why did this little girl take so much of his attention?
Shikaku had accepted a C level mission out of the insistence of his wife. Their child had been born recently, and he had avoided the Hokage's Office with the excuse of taking care of Shikamaru. Yoshino had other ideas of what Shukaku should have been doing. It was an easy mission: escort the trader out of Konoha and in the city of Suna. No bandits. No missing nins. Not even an animal crossed their path. They got to Suna without any problems. Now all Shikaku had to do was wait till nightfall ended and he could make his way back to Konoha.
That was the plan.
WAS.
The sound of crying broke Shikaku's train of thought. He wasn't used to crying, all Nara babies tended to sleep like rocks. It came from a small alley and it sounded like a little girl. Putting the pieces together, anyone could have reached the conclusion that the situation was worrisome, even having potential to be disastrous, so Shikaku went to investigate.
In the alley way was a girl, no more than the age of 3, curling in a fetal position face down in a puddle of her own tears.
Shikaku assessed the situation. Under no circumstances should a girl be left alone in an alley, especially at such a young age. She was either abandoned, in hiding, or traumatized. Further investigation would be required.
He kneeled down to her.
"Why are you here crying, little one?"
Her face lifted up so he got a clear view of her. Her pupils were teal and her eyes were red from all the crying. The black eye was definitely something to be concerned about.
"T-t-tousan says th-that he never wanted a girl like me."
More sniffing. More crying.
"H-he says that all he wanted was a son to c-carry the fam-m-mily name and-and that I-I-"
Gasp. Choke. Sob.
"I w-was w-w-worthless."
Shikaku was stunned. He knew such acts of verbal discipline were more common than in Suna than in Konoha due to the stricter way of life, but never in the sense of demoralizing a child's sex. Perhaps it was a way to toughen her up for the undoubtedly conflict-filled times ahead. There had already been three shinobi wars after all; the next could be closer than many would anticipate.
Shukaku could only hope that was the case with this little girl.
"Maybe I can talk to your tousan. Do you know where you live?"
"Noo!" she covered her face behind her knees again. "I d-don't wanna go back! I-I don't wanna g-get beat again…"
Well that certainly explained the black eye.
Shikaku considered his options. He'd be damned if he just left her there. Somewhere in the city there had to be an orphanage, or perhaps the Kazekage would be kind enough to give the little girl a home for her.
"What's your name, little one?" Shikaku asked.
"I t-told you I-I don't want to go back." she sniffled.
"I'm not going to send you back. I just want your name so I can give it to somebody who can help you."
The little girl hesitated.
"Sa… Sabaku no Temari."
Sabaku?!
Oh no.
No. No. No.
Sabaku was the name of the current Kazekage. That limited Shukaku's options. Beating your child was never good for publicity especially in a Kage's position. Sending her to the Kazekage was out of the question and an orphanage would just send her back to him.
But then what to do with the girl?
He…
He could always take her to Konoha to live with the Nara clan.
However, the act of taking any citizen or shinobi out of their home city and into another was considered an act of hostility at worst. Without proper paperwork or permission from the Kage, the act would have been considered a kidnapping. Shikaku risked war if he decided to take in this little girl.
A dumb, DUMB decision indeed.
"Would you like to come home with me?"
"Really?"
Stupid, STUPID Shikaku.