Night came quickly in the Sand Village, the skies turned dark blue and then black, lit by thousands of gleaming stars. Gaara had still not returned. The oldest sand sibling paced somewhat anxiously by the entrance to Sunagakure while the shinobi guarding the entrance looked at her with some form of concern. By the time midnight came, there was a distinct tread line from the sandals of the kunoichi in the sand. One of the shinobi in charge of the entrance made his way from his post to where the blonde haired female still paced, looking more and more worried as the night grew darker and the temperature began to drop.
"Lady Temari, perhaps it would be better if you waited inside the village," The middle aged shinobi suggested, keeping his voice low and soothing, jolting Temari out of her thoughts and causing her to swing round and face him. "If we see Lord Gaara approach, we will send word to you immediately, there is no sense in you waiting in the cold; you should catch up on your rest."
Temari bit her lip, glancing towards the desert through the corner of her eyes, looking for Gaara in the distance before nodding. "Alright, send word to me immediately when he arrives."
After dismissing the shinobi Temari began to walk back towards the home she shared with her brothers. The sand village was dark, lit by only a few strategically placed streetlamps. Many lights were off in the houses she passed, which, due to how late it was, was more than understandable. The cool air of the night began to bother Temari and she picked up the pace a little more, nodding as another shinobi gave her a quick bow of respect.
The lights were still on in her home, Kankuro had more than likely stayed up working on a puppet as a guise for waiting for Gaara to return. Temari pushed open the door quietly and locked it behind her, taking her shoes off as she did so. Then after brushing a few grains of sand from her feet she walked into the main room of the house, eyes looking around for her brother. Unable to spot him she moved through the house, checking his room first. Finding it empty she closed the door softly, wondering briefly if he was even home.
"Kankuro?" She called, glancing down the hallway. Before she had even received an answer she had begun to walk towards his puppet workshop, her bare feet silent on the wooden floor.
"In here." The reply came, confirming her suspicions as she pushed open the door to his workshop. To her the room looked like absolute chaos, with random wooden body parts either hanging up or covering every available surface. Tools were littered about and Temari had to step over what she assumed was some sort of torso to approach Kankuro who if asked about the state of the room, would claim that everything was in the place it should be.
Among the puppets was Kankuro, he'd taken off both his face paint and his forehead protector, letting his shaggy brown hair hang loose over his ears. He appeared to be concentrating on some sort of leg, which twitched every so often. Temari scrunched up her nose at the sight. His puppets give me the creeps sometimes. She thought to herself, not wanting to interrupt his concentration as the leg moved again.
After a few seconds Kankuro looked up at her and almost instantly knew what was bothering her. "Gaara isn't back yet is he?"
"No."
Kankuro smiled, turning back to his puppet. "Relax Temari; he isn't that bratty little psychopath anymore. Him and his team probably just got caught in a sand storm and had to wait it out, even Gaara would struggle in one of those. He's just fine, probably gritting his teeth at one of the genin or feeling sheepish at how late he is."
Temari sighed, relaxing slightly as she perched on the edge of a bench taken up by what looked like more wooden body parts. "I guess you're right but it's not him losing his temper I'm worried about, it's his safety. I mean look at how many times he's been targeted not just by people inside the village but by other, rogue shinobi. I just worry that he's gotten himself injured or - "She stopped there, not wanting to explore her fears further.
Even Kankuro looked worried for a few seconds before he brightened up. "I believe in Gaara to stay alive, after all that Naruto kid really inspired him to try to be accepted by everyone and there's no way Gaara would throw all his hard work away by dying now."
There was a silence between the two siblings as Kankuro continued fiddling with the puppet leg, sticking his tongue out as his concentration intensified. Temari watched as the leg continued to twitch and move as it was altered. It appeared to be a part of a salamander shaped puppet which was currently residing in the centre of the room, looking lopsided without one of its legs.
The silence seemed to stretch for a long while, broken eventually by Kankuro asking Temari to had him another screwdriver and then after that a small hammer. It continued like this until the old clock in their hallway chimed twice and the two siblings were beginning to droop. Kankuro set down his screwdriver and sat back in his chair, stretching his arms into the air and yawning, a few of his bones cracking in the process. Temari also yawned but hers was quieter and her mouth was covered by her hand. In silent agreement they both stood up, sidestepping over puppet parts and exiting the room. Temari waited as Kankuro extinguished the light and left the workshop in darkness, sliding the door shut softly and turning to his sister who looked at him expectantly.
"He'll be back in the morning, I just know he will."
Temari opened her eyes blearily as the first few rays of morning light hit her face. At first she felt exhausted and completely at peace but then she remembered that one of her brothers hadn't yet returned from his mission. It was then that she bolted up, completely awake and with a sense of dread in her heart. She pulled on her clothes and left her room quickly, sliding the door closed behind her. Her bare feet padded down the hall, pace quickening as she approached the kitchen. Part of her expected to see Gaara sitting at the table eating some steamed rice or broiled fish with Kankuro but instead Kankuro sat alone, his rice still steaming but seemingly untouched.
"He's still not back is he?" Temari asked, hoping she wouldn't get the answer she knew would come. She sat down and began to eat slowly; taking the extra bowl of rice that was sitting in the centre of the table, prepared by Kankuro not long before.
"No." Kankuro's tone was blunt and lifeless, echoing the tone that Temari had used the night before. He picked at his rice, managing to consume half of it before he pushed it away. Unlike last night, his face paint had been applied and his forehead protector was on the table, he was ready to leave to go find Gaara.
Temari spent more time looking at her rice than she did eating it but like Kankuro managed half a bowl before she too pushed it away. She stood up silently and lifted all the dishes off the table, dumping them into the sink after scraping out the leftovers. She grabbed her forehead protector and tied it around her neck before going to fetch her sandals. Kankuro also stood up and pulled his forehead protector over his head, covering his ears and his shaggy hair. Together the siblings put on their sandals and while Temari fastened her fan to her back, Kankuro pulled his two puppets onto his. Soon he would finish his third and would carry all three in a scroll instead but for now he carried the two without the scroll.
When they were both ready Temari unlocked the door and they both stepped out, locking it behind them. Their first stop would be the front gate of Sunagakure to check to see if Gaara had in fact arrived but had decided to bypass meeting with his siblings to give in his mission report. They walked in silence once more towards the gate, passing the early risers and school children heading to the academy, the stores were already open but many were still putting out their wares and some were chatting to passersby or calling out orders to their employees. The two siblings would usually have been heading towards the academy to check in with how things were going as they had previously taught there for a brief time while new teachers were being introduced to the new teaching methods but today they had other things on their mind.
As they approached both felt themselves staring into the horizon, each hoping to spy Gaara and laugh off their worry as foolishness. The horizon stayed empty. The closer they got to the entrance the more their nerves intensified. When they reached the entrance they approached the squad leader. He saw them coming and made his way over to them.
"Has Gaara-?" Temari started, speaking before Kankuro.
The squad leader raised his hand to stop her from speaking. "I'm sorry Lady Temari, Lord Kankuro, he hasn't returned yet. I wouldn't worry though, it's still early."
"Thanks anyway." Kankuro said, turning back towards the centre of Sunagakure. Temari spent a few seconds more looking out into the desert before turning to follow her brother. Now they would head to the administration building to meet with the jounin council and ask their permission to go out and find Gaara. More than likely the council would dismiss it as Gaara simply being late but the two siblings, without needing to say anything to each other both thought the same thing. They realised it was most probably family intuition that plagued them both, the knowledge that Gaara wasn't late, Gaara was in trouble.
The room in which the council of jounin were located was in the administration building in the centre of Sunagakure and that was where the sand siblings were now located. Their concerns didn't seem to reach the council and their fears were being downplayed.
"You two need to lighten up, Gaara is just late." One of the jounin told them, sighing at their impatience. The two siblings looked at each other and both looked like they were about to argue.
"Kankuro, Temari, Gaara is fine; your worry will come to nothing." Baki told them, putting his hands on their shoulders as if to console them. If he was honest with himself, he shared the siblings' worry but it wasn't as intense as theirs.
Temari glared around the room, making the jounin shift uneasily, each one around the table knew what Gaara meant to the siblings but none of them were willing to waste any manpower on someone which many of them believed would bring about the destruction of the Sand. There was that reason and the fact that he was only a day late, it wasn't unusual that missions took longer than expected but the two chuunin in front of them still didn't appear to understand it. Some jounin doubted their promotion to chuunin but were even unhappier with Gaara's progression, there was talk of him reaching jounin within a few months and perhaps even following his father's footsteps to become Kazekage. They feared that giving Gaara such power would bring the Sand to its knees and would be perfectly happy if Gaara didn't come back.
The jounin council looked at each other, and then one stood up. "I think you two should leave and continue with your duties. Your concern is nothing but pointless worry."
There was a knock on the door and it opened, revealing a haggard looking jounin who hesitated for a moment in the doorway after seeing Kankuro and Temari. He seemed to gather himself before turning to the council, while still watching the siblings from the corner of his eyes. The looks he gave them made the two uneasy and they took a step forwards without realising.
"What is it?" One of the council asked, looking from the siblings to the jounin. "Was you mission successful?"
"Yes, the mission was completed. I came to inform you of a different matter though." The jounin informed them, shuffling from one foot to the other.
"Oh?"
"On our return journey across the desert we discovered the bodies of multiple rogue shinobi," He paused, glancing at the two siblings again. "And the bodies of the two genin assigned to Gaara."