I went back into the hall from the balcony and spotted her right away. Temari was wearing a floor length, very sleek gown, in a deep blue color that matched the Kage robes of her village. The fabric shimmered in the light with her every movement. It was strapless to show off a stunning diamond necklace. Her hair was pulled up and out of her face in a different way than usual, to show off a pair of equally stunning diamond earrings.
I certainly don't know much about women's fashion, nor do I want to, but I would guess that it was a very high end dress made just for her. She either didn't need that dress shop suggestion the other day in town, or she put them to work in a short amount of time.
She really looked beautiful; much more beautiful than anyone else at the party. It probably had something to do with her being in the prime of her life, at the age where you aren't trying to look any older or younger and you just enjoy being beautiful.
How old is she again?
She and Kankuro just finished having a conversation with an elegantly dressed lady from the Land of the Waves, while Gaara stood there giving off an unpleasant vibe, per usual. They were all holding punch, except Gaara, of course, who stood with his arms crossed. I had reason to suspect that the Lady's drink wasn't just punch… or perhaps the red in her cheeks was just too much makeup.
The lady was being ushered into a new conversation, with someone more important, by an equally elegantly dressed man who was most likely her husband. The Sand trio began to regroup as she walked away.
She's not going to want to talk to me, but I've got nothing to lose.
As I was getting up the nerve to approach her, I watched another diplomat approach her in a rush. "Lady Temari," he said.
He was a good looking, well dressed young man, no more than 10 years older than her, who didn't appear to be from either of our villages. He was speaking softly to just her, not the brothers, holding a glass of something that definitely wasn't punch. His hands were grazing her shoulder and elbow in a more-than-friendly way, which she kept brushing off and trying to politely avoid.
Her title caught me off guard. Who are these three?
The man's sudden interest startled her as well. She recognized him; she certainly didn't have to introduce herself, but was clearly uncomfortable.
She kept shaking her head, making her earrings sway and catch the light, as he kept trying to touch her. Her face held an ever-so-slightly distressed look. Kankuro didn't seem to know what to do, and Gaara didn't seem to care.
She seemed like an entirely different person than the fiery girl that I saw before. There was no doubt in my mind, if she was anywhere but here, in anything other than her beautiful gown, doing anything other than representing her country, she would've punched this guy, or anyone acting this obnoxious, in the face, and it'd be over.
Gaara, who looked annoyed already, was looking increasingly so, after a couple of the man's attempts to get Temari to dance with him. Gaara let out a verbal growl that caught the man's attention for a moment. It was the perfect distraction.
Kankuro stepped in, casually threw his arm around the guy, and steered him away from Temari. They walked off talking about some vacation spot that I am unfamiliar with.
Temari visibly relaxed and finished what was left in her cup in one gulp. I took the opening.
"That was painful to watch," I said awkwardly. "Would you like a refill?"
"It was painful to endure. A refill would be nice." She said as looked around for a waiter. I spotted one immediately and waved them over.
She placed her empty glass on the tray and picked up a new one. There was another delicate piece of diamond jewelry on her wrist that twinkled as she did so.
I've never seen someone move so elegantly…
As this was happening, another man approached her from behind. I recognized him as her sensei.
"You ok, Tem?" He asked, much more gently than I would've thought possible from him.
"Annoying bastard, isn't he?" She said through gritted teeth. Her eyes changed completely. They were on fire. No longer was she a demure lady, trying to be polite to anyone. She was thoroughly annoyed, and I suddenly realized that I probably shouldn't have approached her at all.
"Proud of you." That was all. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and walked away, gone as quickly as he came.
It was just the two of us. I have to say something...
"I was going to start off by asking if you were enjoying your evening, but I'm going to assume it just took a turn for the worse… What was that all about, anyway? Not a fan of dancing?" I asked.
Her eyes changed again. They weren't angry but looked tired for a moment. She gave a big sigh before giving me a sad smile. "You wouldn't get it."
She spoke to me casually, like we'd always known each other; much differently than she spoke earlier at the dinner table or even last week to the shop attendant.
"Try me," I said. "It's not like he was asking you to marry him or anything, right?"
She chuckled very softly. I couldn't believe my ears.
"That's exactly what he wanted."
I choked on my drink. My hacking cough seemed to amuse her though. "I'm sorry, what?"
"See? I told you." Temari said in a cocky manner. She was easily frustrated in this already aggravated state. How does Dad deal with Mom when she's frustrated?
"Just because I don't get it right now, doesn't mean that I am not capable of understanding. Why don't we step out on the balcony, get some fresh air, and you can educate me?"
She bought it; Temari walked right past me, picked another drink up off of a tray and walked out through the door I just came in, while I stood there wondering how that actually worked.
I followed her out, stood next to her, and simply waited for her to start talking.
"Surely you know what political marriages are and that they, unfortunately, still exist. My country gets a portion of our drinking water, among other necessities, shipped from his country in exchange for security, weapons, and the like. It's a very important bond that the Sand, nonetheless, has no intention of sealing with a marriage, but he keeps pushing the issue."
"Because of personal interest in you? Or the overarching interest of his country?" I concealed my shock and went with it. So, she's old enough to be married, and powerful enough to be married off...
"Would I be flattering myself too much if I said both?" She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, with a coy smile on her painted lips. It was dazzling.
"I - I don't think so. You do look beautiful tonight." It might have been my imagination, but I think her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. I know mine did.
"Thank you," she said softly. She was quiet for a second and all I did was watch her and wait.
"Regardless, we've known each other for most of our lives. We have at least one thing in common; the good of our prospective countries." She took a sip of punch, "and I happen to know that he stands to inherit quite a bit when he ties the knot. So maybe it isn't all about me, right?"
"Maybe not, but it's a nice thought."
She smiled a little wider, but it faded too quickly. She was quiet again for another minute. "As the Kazekage's oldest daughter... it makes sense, in a traditional sense, that I would be married off for political purposes. Women in my country aren't tremendously valued as of yet. The number of kunoichi in my country is absolutely miniscule, especially compared to in the Leaf. My mom and dad were a political thing. They were … friendly, sort of. Anyway, my mom… Well, my mom fought for my independence and autonomy since the day I was born and told me that I could do anything I wanted to, be anyone I wanted to be, no matter what, all that Good Mom stuff, you know."
"And now you are brilliant, non-traditional, semi- successful kunoichi and don't have time to be dealing with all of the drama that politics drags along."
"Yes, exactly. Wait, what? Semi- successful? Really?" Rather than looking at me like she wanted to ring my neck, she arched an eyebrow and feigned shock. Almost as if she was enjoying the banter.
"We are both still genin," I said, trying to keep my face straight. I couldn't help smiling behind my cup though.
Temari let out a short laugh and rolled her eyes. "I hate to admit it, but you are right… I have proven… I am working hard to prove that I, and all other women, can still serve their countries in a less than traditional way. It doesn't always have to entail getting married to someone you hate and having babies." She seemed very passionate about it. It looks good on her…
I didn't say anything, just continued to give her my full and undivided attention, and I learned so much. This seemed like something she really needed to get off her chest anyway.
"Don't misunderstand me, I think he's a nice enough guy, when he hasn't been drinking. I don't hate him, by any means. I just hate the whole situation. I'm not sure where he even got the idea... Anyway, I don't know why I am telling you all of this, considering it can all be used against me in the tournament."
"How so?" Other than confirming her status (higher than mine or my families), relationships (also higher than mine), motivations (greater than mine) and subtle hints at her training regime (harder than mine), and that she gets too cocky when she knows she's right, I don't gain anything from this... other than her company...
"I don't know. You're really easy to talk to for some reason." She looked up at me through her eyelashes.
"All I've done is listen without interrupting you." I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but really wanting to loosen my tie.
"Uh, no. You had to throw that one comment in." Temari tried to look annoyed but was hiding a smile.
"You needed it." She shook her head at me but didn't say anything.
"Thank you for just listening, though. It doesn't seem like much, but it really is awesome. No one does that anymore; just listens, I mean. I am constantly interrupted, because I am a woman and a genin. I can't wait to get this over with so that people will take me seriously."
She was starting to sound like another passionate, blonde genin I know, before she stopped herself. "... Anyway, I needed that."
"I could tell." We sipped our drinks in comfortable silence before she turned on me again.
"So, what about you? What do you think of all of this?" She asked, smiling a very slight, but genuine smile.
"I don't know what I'm doing here or how I got here really." Temari laughed at that, and I couldn't help but laugh too. It was a beautiful sound…
"I've never really tried all that hard to be honest. I just go with it. That's my philosophy in life. I do have some pretty simple goals in life, and none of them include fancy parties like this, so I'm just along for the ride at this point." I wanted to make it seem like I was opening up and relaxing, even if I wasn't. There's nothing worse than spilling your guts and then not having them reciprocated.
"Along for the ride seems like a nice place to be. I wonder if I'll ever actually get there," she mused softly. She was right, though. I had no idea what her life was like, but that didn't mean that I didn't want to find out.
Temari had turned around, leaning her back on the balcony railing, to face the party inside. She started humming the classical tune that came from inside.
"Do you dance?" She asked suddenly.
I turned to look at her in surprise, but she wasn't looking at me, but rather down in her empty glass. If I didn't know any better, I would have labeled this posture as bashful.
"No, actually I don't know how. I've never needed to know." It was a struggle to keep my cool. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that she was going to ask me to dance with her.
Should I ask her…?
I decided against it, "Do you know this song?" Temari shook her head.
The conversation had died and I couldn't tell if it was awkward or not.
Suddenly, Temari giggled next to me. I really should stop being so shocked by everything she does, but it's not my fault. "Some girl is over there trying to ask Gaara to dance."
I peered in the direction she was looking. A reserved looking girl was standing next to Gaara, very red faced, attempting to engage him in conversation, and failing to do so. He was standing with his arms crossed as usual, with that bad attitude look on his face, not even acknowledging her presence next to him.
I took a moment to assess my own proximity to the beautiful young lady standing next to me. I found that we had actually gotten pretty close to each other. Our shoulders would graze any second now, and I wouldn't know how to handle that.
"Does he dance?" I asked, stepping away from her slightly.
"No. No one was brave enough to teach him. He doesn't need to just stand there like a creep though."
"He seems like a… special kid." I wasn't sure how else to phrase it.
"You can say it: that kid's a freak. No doubt about it…. but he's my brother and I have a job as his sister." Her voice was so serious. She got a far away, dangerous look in her eye, that worried me.
"What kind of job?"
She was quiet for a moment before she answered me, which freaked me out even more. She was staring at her brother like she was wishing he would drop dead where he stood.
"Oh, you know, sisterly stuff. Making sure he combs his hair, eats breakfast, and doesn't die on a regular basis. That sort of thing." Her demeanor changed completely, like she was shocked out of a trance just before she told me something important, something that I could potentially use against Gaara, should I get that far.
She's a pretty good sister after all...
"Like teaching him how to dance?" I continued.
"Ha! Guess I didn't get around to that one yet." She shook her head in a chastising way.
"I wouldn't know anything about siblings."
"Oh, lucky you… I mean that in both a real and a sarcastic way." Temari chuckled a little but turned her attention back to me. "There are definitely benefits to having them around, I mean, the pressure to produce heirs and be a super great leader is lessened, because my dad has more to choose from, but then again I am partially responsible for keeping them alive and they're annoying."
"I get it. I don't have siblings, but that's pretty much how I feel about my teammates. My dad would kill me if anything bad happened to them, just because they are his old buddy's kids, and we are all like one big family."
I can't believe I just let that much slip about them, but we weren't operating on a team basis anymore, right? The most she would've derived from that spiel is that I would die for them, which I would. Right?
"So the little blonde girl that made a show of cutting her hair? She's like a sister to you?" Temari arched an eyebrow and hid behind her cup.
"Sister," I say nodding, "or a cousin, maybe. And Choji is like my brother. Why?"
"Just curious." Temari was short with me, as she looked away.
"For the overarching interests of your country or your own personal interest?" I grinned, mocking her.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.
I couldn't help but laugh at the look she gave me. I wondered briefly if she was having as nice of a time as I am. I guess I am having a nice time.
Temari joined in with her own laugh. It seemed so genuine that I couldn't help but think that it was a very pretty sound. I wondered again if the man from before ever approached Temari the way I was, with no real intentions at all, if he would've gotten what he was after.
I decided that I was thinking too much and that we both needed more punch. I carefully took Temari's class, from her hand, careful not to touch her. She had her other hand near her face, covering her smile as she laughed.
"You know you shouldn't do that."
She looked at me with a confused look. "You shouldn't hide your smile, I mean. It's nice, when you aren't faking it."
She dropped her hand and I took a step back from her. "Honestly, I've found it very hard to fake a smile with you around."
I walked away with both of our cups in my hand, without responding. She responded to me so quickly, and I didn't think that she would, so I didn't have anything planned to say back to her.
I wondered if she meant it, as I found a waiter and asked what they had on their tray. There I go wondering again. I'm too young to be wondering about girls, er, ladies.
One thing's for sure, she keeps me on my toes.