Chapter Two: Gaara's Confinement
Temari cracked an eye open and was suddenly attacked by a relentless migraine. Her head pounded as she stared up at the ceiling, the unexpected desire to fall back to sleep shaking her psyche. Groaning, she attempted to roll over, only to find her entire body heavier than usual.
"What the hell did I do?" she grumbled as she grasped at her memory, attempting to piece together what could've made her feel so horrible.
Placing her palms on the cool floor to her left, she pushed herself to a sitting position. Sadly, though, she regretted her move and was left swooning lightly, her mind a complete wreck. To ward off the nausea, she pressed her forehead against one of her knees, her eyes lidded tiredly.
After the initial wave of discomfort had faded from her being, she lazily trained her eyes on the messy dining room. For a second, she was confused as to why the table was turned upside down and the glasses shattered. Then the rush of memories overcame her and she whirled around, her throat constricting.
Hurriedly, she crawled towards the unconscious form of her younger brother. He looked half-dead; his face was pale and his breathing was slow.
Her heart began to race frantically. She hated to see any of her brothers injured; except, of course, when the injury came from her. But then again, she would never hurt them as much as the ANBU had.
Forcefully, she shook Kankuro's limp form, biting her lower lip nervously. When she received no response from him, she arched her hand back and slapped him forcefully across the face as she snapped, "Come on, Kankuro! Get up!"
It had the desired effect; the puppeteer stirred before unwillingly opening his eyes. He then placed a hand over his forehead and groaned, before mumbling in a cracked voice, "What did I drink last night…?"
"Who knows, I wasn't here," she dryly commented, getting to her feet. She wobbled slightly, but then managed to clutch the wall so she wouldn't fall over.
"Why'd you hit me?" the boy suddenly questioned with a sigh, placing a hand over his reddening left cheekbone.
Temari heavily sank in an upturned chair. If he was expecting apologies, he would wait a long time. "Because you were unconscious?"
He scoffed. "And you thought that waking me up by hitting the hell out of me was a good idea?"
"It had the desired effect," she shrugged carelessly.
Sensing something was wrong with his sister, Kankuro trained his bloodshot eyes on her from his position on the floor. He remained silent, clearly bidding her to speak.
Turning her head away, she finally said, "Gaara's gone."
She saw Kankuro blink confusedly for a few seconds before remembering what had happened a few hours ago. Frantically, he stood up; only to fall back down a couple of seconds later. Groaning, he rolled on his stomach and growled, "I'm going to get him back!"
"How?" she replied, her eyes still on the floor. "I doubt they'll let you just stroll in there, pick up our brother, say goodbye and leave. They probably tossed him in a cell and he's waiting for his trial or whatever's expected of him."
The shinobi hesitated as he managed to sit up on a nearby chair. "Or the alternative could happen…"
"Kankuro!" Temari snarled, suddenly slamming a fist against the wall. "Don't think like that! Gaara's changed!"
"Yeah, I know! But maybe for saving his own skin…" He ignored the glare sent to him by his sister. "But the question remains; how can we get him out of there?"
She shot him an exasperated glare. "If I knew, would I be sitting here, idiot?"
Having his ego bruised, even in this situation, didn't quite please Kankuro. Growling lightly, he snapped back, "Well maybe you should've listened to Shadow Freak instead of always shutting him up and kissing him! Maybe you would've learnt something from his overly developed brain."
Temari was also about to engage in another one of their deadly fights, which often enough resulted in her slamming her fan above his head. Suddenly, though, the mention of Shikamaru brought her to a halt. "You'll have to stop calling him that, now. You're not under Gaara's protection; you'll have to watch your mouth."
"And you, yours!" he hissed as he looked away. "I had a high position, sure, but you were the one getting all the privileges! You could handpick your missions, beat and yell at anyone you desired without much punishment, could stay longer or shorter than allowed during your tasks, and you could go see everybody back at Ko—"
Temari abruptly stood up. In one fluid motion she grabbed her fan and left the house, slamming the door in the process.
"Sabaku no Gaara, what a pleasure…"
The redhead glared up from his position, once again looking over the small cell. There was barely any room to move; a five-foot long bed took on the entire back wall, and he had three feet before he'd reach the darkened damage-proof window. It was the smallest cell in Suna, reserved for the most dangerous criminals and guarded by more than a dozen of ANBU officers.
"Won't you talk to me?" the taunting male voice replied. "After all, I didn't have you murdered on the spot."
"Your guards harmed my family," Gaara spat back, wishing he still had his gourd with him. Maybe the man wouldn't be enjoying this then…
"How unfortunate. But they got in the way; it's their fault after all." The voice turned into a mocking laugh, making Gaara's blood boil.
Finally, after a few moments, the redhead questioned, "Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize my voice, Gaara?" he chuckled. "Come on, it's me! Your old pal!"
The shinobi growled slightly. "Of course, I recognize you. How could I forget such a disgusting voice, Fumio."
"No, no, no, now! Call me by… how did you put it last year… Kazekage-sama?" Fumio laughed again.
"Is that why I'm here? The incident last summer at Konoha?" Gaara questioned, remembering when he had used such a quote. His face crinkled slightly at the thought of Mitsuo and his arrogant demeanor. He was definitely glad to have rid the world of that man.
"Incident?" Fumio once again began to laugh scornfully. "You betrayed the law of Suna! You refused to accept the council's decision, even when the vote was definitely in majority! You recklessly murdered a man simply because you didn't like him. You allowed your brother to run around and take VIP passes everywhere. You let your sister date a man from another country, despite the agreements your father made beforehand to have the council pick a suitable man for her. You declared an alliance despite the fact that more than 95 of the Suna population was ready to fight for you! Then you came back to us and slip back into good old Kazekage? It took quite a while, but all the paperwork and formulas are done; you will not keep that function."
"I will not justify my actions for you," Gaara replied monotonously. "But know that my siblings will not bend under your will. Kankuro never used his status to boost his importance; at the end of the day, he'd still be waiting in line for his food at the restaurant. As for my sister, I personally will not allow any of you to let her marry anyone that she doesn't want to."
"You do know it is a serious scandal," Fumio murmured, dropping his voice, "when a Kazekage gets his title revoked. Imagine the disgrace, Gaara; imagine what it would do to your precious family." He waited a few seconds to let it sink in. "But I can make you a deal."
Gaara leaned back against the cold wall, frowning lightly. He wouldn't compromise his own honor for the sake of a few liberties. Refusing to reply, he shut his eyes and remained silent.
Fumio's tone dropped as he whispered through the window, "I can promise you that your family will not be bothered anymore, Gaara. Isn't that what you truly desire?"
The redhead swallowed painfully, still refusing to speak.
Fumio waited a few seconds, then angrily punched the tinted window. "I'll get even with you, Sabaku no Gaara! I'll make you and your entire family pay for your lack of cooperation!"
The footsteps echoed away as the man left, but Gaara still didn't budge. Cracking his eyes open in the semi-darkness, he lowered his head and stared numbly at the floor.
"Is that Sabaku no Temari? The old Kazekage's sister?" a man whispered questioningly.
As soon as he had spoken, the entire crowd began to scream questions and flash cameras at the stomping blonde, who refused to answer anyone as she headed straight for the main entrance.
The doors of the building that served as Suna's headquarters were violently burst open as an angry Temari shot through the opening. Ignoring the few people that turned to look at her, she streamed past the crowd towards the stairway. She took them two at a time, making the ascent to the desired floor much quicker than she usually managed.
As she slid through the well-lit corridor, her eyes were trained on a couple of shinobi posted outside. Strangely, they weren't guarding the door like she had expected; they were taking things out of the office.
Out of the Kazekage's office. Her brother's things.
Temari stopped by the door, ignoring the wary glances of the three men busy packing things. Her eyes scanned over the precious documents and the few personal things Gaara kept in his office, now brutally smacked in some cardboard.
But then she heard his voice.
Her entire body stood straighter as a wave of anger assaulted her. Her teeth gritted furiously and she once again brushed past the crowd to storm in the Kazekage's office…
And came face-to-face with Fumio.
A/N: Ahh, cliffhangers. Don't ya wish your cliffies were hot like me? … Erm. No. Okay, moving on!
So, sorry for the delay. Argh. Writer's Craft takes up ten times more work than I thought it would take. I mean, you get ZERO time to sit back in your chair and relax. Plus I had to finish the 10 for NejiTen… Which I did. Woot.
It's wave after wave of work. I've been smothered a bit by it, which is why I didn't feel much like writing this chapter. But I did it! Be proud!
Hope you enjoyed! Thank you to those who reviewed!
Take care!