Disclaimer: If you don't believe me from the first two chapters you aren't going to believe me now when I say that I don't own the characters....Although I do keep Gaara in my closet.

Morning came all too soon. The sun's timid rays flashed across her tightly shut eyes and beckoned her. Temari rose and dressed in her unfamiliar room. Her movements were lethargic as her body uncoiled itself when she moved. She hesitated before opening her door and descending to the common room.

The warm sunlight rejoined her as she left the dark hallway. A long wooden table sat in the center surrounded by little green mats. A side table held the food that was granted to the visiting shinobi. She knelt by the table a couple places away from Kankuro and Gaara. Temari attempted to look normal though she was aware of her face betraying her thoughts. She never got the courage to look up at her siblings choosing instead to give her food more attention than it deserved.

She knew that Gaara had not even acknowledged her presence and that Kankuro would be shifting his eyes back and forth between them searching for a sign that would give him a clue about the uneasy silence.

Sure Gaara never was one for conversation, but usually Temari came in with a bright smile and a new topic to argue over. Fortunately it was not a complete silence as Konoha woke up around them and simple people started out their peaceful day.

She was becoming less alert to her surroundings. Her bowl gleamed in the rising sun and her eyes could not leave the cool porcelain. Temari slowly became aware of the miniscule particles of sand sliding their way along the table.

Whenever she put her full attention onto a particular area of it all motion would stop. As soon as she looked away faint glimpses of movement caught her eye. 'What is he up to?' She wondered in no small amount of fear. Ever so slowly the tabletop was encased in sand.

The red brown mass went fluidly over her bowl, ruining any food that was left within its ceramic haven. She could not move. Her eyes darted down to find that her entire body was already being smothered by Gaara's weapon. She lifted her dark eyes and they clashed with emotionless jade green ones.

His face was a mask carefully constructed to match his actual visage. Fingers wound around her throat just above where the sand ended. She knew they would be pale despite the sand that lingered there. Pressure was being applied and her vision grew foggy.

'This can't be happening! He wouldn't do this to me!' Frantic thoughts ran through her head as her body refused to answer her mind's commands. Gasping for breath she tried to look at the real Gaara, but only the clone sat there.

It paid no attention to the fact that the original of him was committing cold blooded murder right down the table from it. 'Of course his clone wouldn't mind. This is Gaara. He loves death. He loves it more than anything else. Maybe...if I let him kill me...he would love me too.'

Lids fluttered shut over dark blue eyes as the brain was deprived of oxygen. Suddenly it was too much of a bother to keep consciousness. She slipped into darkness. Temari woke gasping.

Her eyes darted to every corner of the room to make sure she was alone. Dark eyes flitted over the plain brown walls, a single window to the outside world, a cheap overused wardrobe and a small chipped and scarred bedside table.

After confirming her solitude her eyes latched onto the window where a pale streak across the horizon announced that dawn was not far away. She allowed her tense body to fall limply back into the warm bedding. Temari forced herself to calm down and regulated her lungs back down to normal.

'It was a dream. Only a strange chemical reaction in the brain that causes a person to see strange things.' She rationalized to herself. It took a couple more minutes of that soothing mantra before she was able to get the disturbing vision out of her mind.

She shifted to her side and curled under the light blankets. After a few more minutes of turning the neatly made bed into a battlefield she gave up the fight and accepted the fact that she would be losing a couple hours of sleep.

She sighed as she crept fully out of the covers and set her feet on the cold ground. She hefted herself into a standing position and dressed for the day. A fishnet shirt followed by a pale lavender dress wrapped themselves around her lithe body. She donned the rest of her unique outfit and ran her hands through her spiky hair trying to make it poof out more.

She strode to the door her steps faltered before the innocent barrier. 'Why am I getting such a sense of déjà vu?' She shook her head free of doubts and with one last tiny pause opened the door and traveled as silently as she could down the stairs. Kankuro and Gaara were already seated and halfway through their meal.

On a side table sat an untouched bowl, waiting for the kunoichi. Temari picked it up on her way to the table, placing herself a couple seats away from her male companions. The strange nagging feeling hit her with more force, but she ignored it and the confused glances that the older of the two kept sending her.

Temari concentrated on her bland food, practically forcing the sustenance down her throat. A breeze filtered in through an open window and sand rolled across the table. She jumped back from it startled, her dream coming back to her with full force. Her movement caused her chopsticks to land with an audible thump on the table. This earned her a disgusted look from Gaara himself.

'Calm down. It wasn't him. It was the wind. Sand is always where he is. It doesn't mean it is dangerous.' She mentally slowed her heartbeat back to its normal rhythm. 'He doesn't always control it. Just calm down he won't kill you. He doesn't have a reason to. I hope.' The rest of the meal ended in silence until Gaara stood and departed through the front door.

Kankuro followed swiftly leaving Temari to pick up her fan and leap onto the rooftops alone. The return trip lacked the blinding speed of the first and Temari did not even bother to catch up with her siblings. By nightfall she had lost all sense of them and had slowed to a normal walk.

The trees thinned and dunes replaced majestic foliage. Wind caressed her face as if welcoming her home. Instead of taking the direction that would lead her to the Hidden Village of Sand she turned slightly more to the east and towards her precious oasis. Temari just wanted to be alone. Completely alone with her treacherous thoughts and her unforgiving guilt.

A/N: Thanks for the enthusiastic response to my little tale. As always I live for reviews and shall perish without them.