Kintsugi
Dread

"Those manipulative bastards."

Temari's hands clenched together, frustrated with how things were turning out. In the back of her mind, she knew the elders were trying to manipulate the situation so they might gain some form of control over the family, or in the very least remove her temporarily from the picture so that they might in the very least make things harder for everyone.

"Sorry, Temari."

Her eyes blinked, her head turning to look at her youngest brother. How he managed to get that look on his face, a slight pout and his seafoam green eyes going puppy dog when he was normally emotionless baffled him, but something told her he did this in part because he knew what kind of effect it had on her.

"Don't apologize, but more importantly, I am okay."

"This wasn't my decision."

"I know that Gaara. That said..." Temari turned her head so she might narrow her eyes at Kankuro. "You need to step up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You stuck Temari with mothersitting duty."

Temari's eyes blinked, turning her head to look at her younger brother. "Gaara, are you trying to make a joke?"

"No. Mother is not a baby."

She let out a sigh, turning so she could look at Kankuro again. "What Gaara said?"

"Does she really need to go out?"

"Yes." She and Gaara answered him at the same time. She shook her head, amused at her younger brother's reactions to the things going on around him, and how innocent they were. It was a stark irony, given the way he acted only a few years ago. "Look, she needs to get outside every so often, just like everyone else. Just, do your part, okay."

Looking at her two brothers

Looking at her two brothers, not speaking in front of their mother as if they were keeping secrets from the woman – Temari felt a feeling of dread as she did so. She wondered if this came from speaking about their mother while she wasn't there in the room. In fact, outside of mealtime with their mother – and she may have pondered this previously – and the times she took their mother to the honored siblings' place were the only times she really saw the woman.

She packed her things and headed out, giving her youngest brother a hug despite the fact he tensed up at first, but then the returned her hug. "Be safe Temari."

"You two be safe."

"I always am."

"And Gaara keeps me safe."

Their words did nothing towards settling the lingering feeling of dread which lingered in the pit of her stomach. Glancing up at the sky, she didn't see a single cloud in the sky, which meant hot weather through the burning sand finally cooled by the forests she needed to traverse through in order to reach Konoha. She took in deep breaths, taking in the fresh breaths of air.

Her mind constantly drifted back to the idea that elders were doing anything to get her away from their current political dilemma – the private life of the Kazekage. "Why else would they pick me of all people to deliver a letter, a rather simple mission, but probably a letter which isn't even of any importance?" A glimmer of a thought crossed her mind. "Perhaps they're telling Lady Tsunade about mother? After all, she was her student."

The thought seemed like a possibility, yet the letter wasn't directed towards the Hokage specifically, which made the whole thing even more puzzling. In the back of her mind, she realized, even more, the letter was meant to get her out of the way, yet it clicked – the fact she and her siblings hadn't to her knowledge said anything to Lady Tsunade regarding the fact their mother was alive. She arrived in the village and found herself waiting at the desk where visitors to the village checked in.

"What is the business which brings you to Konoha?" Her usual escort when she was in the village showed up.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. The council of elders wasn't very specific regarding the reasons why I would be selected to deliver a message by foot, when there are other lower-ranking shinobi, let alone via one of our messenger birds."

"What a drag." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "Sounds like the elders are playing games again. I honestly feel bad for the Lord Kazekage for their antics. He gets absolutely no rest because of it."

"By that you mean time to go take naps on the roof, right?" Temari felt her mouth twist into a smile. "Also, you know you can just call him Gaara, but I can't help but notice you never refer to him as Lord Gaara, but you do this with your Hokage, call her Lady Tsunade."

"Well, Gaara earned his title, so in formal situations, I'll use the title." He was referring to the fact he was speaking about Gaara in front of the shinobi in charge of the front desk area for visitors before beckoning her to follow him. "So, is the letter addressed to anyone in particular?"

"I'm guessing it's news they want to pass on to our allies, but for all, I know it simply involves..." There was still a chance the letter might be about their mother. She hated not knowing what the elders were planning. "Anyways, I guess the first task is to deliver this to the Lord Hokage even though I don't know whether this is for her personally or not."

"Is something going on?" Shikamaru definitely picked up on her mood.

"Yeah. Gaara went digging through some papers of our fathers."

"And?"

"Turns out our mother is alive."

"What a drag. How's Gaara taking it? I mean, back during the exam where I made Chunin, he told me your mother was a sacrifice."

"Not that I don't want to talk about this, but could we possibly talk about this later? I'd love to talk about this conversation later." In reality, she didn't want to talk about the conversation later, yet knew she needed to talk to someone she could trust. She tilted her head towards the building where the Hokage lived. "Let's get this message to Lady Tsunade."

"Alright." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, walking with her to the building. In the back of her mind, she found herself looking for a nice bath in the hot springs, which would help relieve some of her stress regarding what was going on around her. They arrived at the office, and he opened the door. "Lady Tsunade, the sister of the Lord Kazekage is here paying us a visit."

"Oh. Come on in Temari." The woman sat at the desk, smiling at her while Shikamaru left to attend to other duties until his official duty of escorting the sister of the Lord Kazekage came up. Apparently, the choice for Kankuro varied a whole lot more, yet Temari brushed this aside. "What do I owe this pleasure to?"

"Oh? The elders sent me with a message. Not a clue what's in it." Temari handed over the letter while Tsunade opened the letter, reading whatever was inclosed.

"Well, this seems a bit trifle to send you out here."

"Then they didn't mention what happened recently?"

"Mention..." Tsunade looked up, her eyes revealing a bit of concern. She stood, holding up her hand. "Don't. You know that I can not discuss political matters of Suna unless..."

"It's a private matter they're trying to say is a political matter, but..." Temari swallowed, worrying her lip slightly before continuing what she said. "I do think it involves you."

"How so?"

Temari's hands tightened into a couple of fists. "It involves one of your former students.'

"On of..." Tsunade took a deep breath. "What is going on Temari?"

"Our mother is alive."

"I see." Tsunade then said, "Shizune, could you bring Temari and I some tea? I think we need to sit down and chat."

"I..." Shizune made a slight bow, yet she seemed slightly taken aback by the news. "I'll go get some tea."

"I hope you don't mind her being a part of this conversation when she gets back, given the fact she knows Karura and Yashimaru." Tsunade waved to the chair in front of her. "Have a seat." When Temari sat down, the Hokage finally asked the first question. "How exactly did the three of you find out she's alive? Actually, tell me the whole story."

Temari took a deep breath. "We never cleaned out father's office. Nobody did. Maybe we shouldn't have left the task to Gaara, but there are documents in that office only the Lord Kazekage or those he approves of can look at, nor could we have known Gaara would have found out as he did. I wish so much he hadn't, but I don't even understand how he could have kept this secret for so long."

"Your father you mean." The door opened and Shizune entered carrying a trey so they might have a proper tea.

"Yes. Our mother's insane." Temari heard the items on the trey clink in a manner that indicated Shizune was listening.

"Insane? Lady Karura isn't insane. She's one of the most intelligent..."

"Shizune, prepare the tea and let Temari speak please."

Temari let her hands clench together as did her mouth. "She was most definitely in the mental ward, but she was the one who sealed Shukaku into Gaara, not our father." Temari watched Shizune work on preparing the tea, yet also noted the look on the woman's face. "That – that's the part Gaara knows. Kankuro and I don't want him to know the rest, but have asked her not to tell him."

"Tell him what? The fact you brought it up means that you want to tell me."

"She's been training at Lady Chiyo's, but she said the same thing as your assistant, that our mother isn't insane. That..." Temari's mouth tightened. "She keeps talking about this nonsense regarding how Gaara's needed for the future, that something's going to happen, but..." Temari took a deep breath. "Lady Chiyo confirmed what our mother said, that if they'd not sealed Shukaku into Gaara he wouldn't have lived at all. I've not told Kankuro that yet."

Tsunade took a deep breath, let out a deep sigh, and then spoke. "I see. That is a lot to take in."

For some reason, Tsunade felt nervous, reaching in for her desk for something, pulling out what looked like a raffle ticket and the newspaper, a look of worry on her face. Shizune placed a cup of tea right into Temari's hands. "Here you go."

The cup cracked while Tsunade continued staring at the two items in front of her. She then looked up at Shizune. "Shizune, can you summon Sakura and Shikamaru for me, but anyone else you can think of?"

"I, yes mam."

"What..."

"Temari, I think you should head back to Suna, but I'm sending a few of my Shinobi with you. Simply put, I've got a bad feeling and would rather be safe than sorry, alright."

"I, yes."