Chapter 5
Temari awoke to the sun once again shining in her eyes and the birds singing loudly ...again. Ugh, do those birds have to be so loud every morning, Temari thought to herself. "I can't wait to get back to Suna and my quiet mornings," she muttered.
She got up and grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the shower. While taking her shower, she thought back to her afternoon and evening with Shikamaru. She had enjoyed her time with him and felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She also felt more confident after talking to Shikamaru about her plans for Sakura and the trials. Shikamaru had even said he would support her by coming to Suna to assist during the trials.
When she finished with her shower and got dressed, she decided to find Gaara to see if he was up for breakfast. She also wanted to know how his dinner with Sakura went. She hoped it went well.
Just as Temari was about to open the door to go get Gaara, there was a knock on her door. She opened it to find Gaara standing outside. "Oh. Good morning, Gaara. I was just coming to see if you wanted to get some breakfast." she said.
Gaara looked to be in one of his moods. "Yes, that is fine. Actually, I wanted to let you know that we are leaving today. I'll meet you at the gate at noon," Gaara told her.
"Ok, sure Gaara," she nodded. "Is everything ok?"
"It will be ‑ once we get back to Suna," Gaara said dejectedly.
Temari watched him walk away and started worrying for her brother. Did his dinner with Sakura not go well? He was looking forward to it the last time she had seen him. What could have happened?
Temari decided to push those thoughts to the back of her mind, since she had to get ready to leave and return back to Suna. Before she left, she wanted to make sure she told Tsunade that she would be returning to escort both Shikamaru and Sakura to Suna for the trials. She would now need to request permission for Shikamaru to come and assist with the trials.
After receiving permission from Tsunade to have Shikamaru accompany her on the next trip back to Suna, Temari returned back to her room. She noticed it was quite close to noon as she picked up her pack and threw it over her shoulder. Temari walked out of her room and made her way to the Konoha gates, she figured that Gaara would already be there waiting for her.
When Temari arrived at the gates, she saw Gaara there talking to Naruto and Hinata. She walked over to Hinata and gave her hug. "Thanks again for letting us spend some time with you," Temari said, as she gave Naruto a hug as well.
Gaara having already finished saying his goodbyes grunted at Temari. "Let's go," he told her. "We have a lot of traveling to do before we stop for the night."
Temari apologized for her brother's grumpiness and followed after him. When she finally caught up to him, she again asked him if he was ok.
"I'm fine, Temari," Gaara curtly responded to his sister. "I'm just concerned about all the work I left behind in Suna for Kankuro to take care of. We need to get back," He knew she was worried about him, but he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts for now. Even though he knew Kankuro could take care of everything, Gaara just wanted to get some distance from Konoha and leave his feelings for Sakura behind him.
Thinking about the trials was irritating Gaara and he was fighting himself. He felt bad that he was taking it out on his sister, and repeatedly told himself that he would try not to think about the trials and make the best of it.
Temari did say she had a plan after all. I just need to trust her, he thought. Maybe everything would turn out ok in the end. He gave a heavy sigh and pushed himself to travel faster. The faster he got back to Suna, the faster he could get through everything.
Temari observed her brother and saw how tired he looked. She saw the sadness on his face. He couldn't be upset about his dinner with Sakura, she thought to herself. It must have to do with the trials. "Just trust me, Gaara. Everything is going to work itself out in the end," she whispered to herself.
In Suna, Matsuri had spent most of her time in the library. She felt like she had searched every nook and cranny of the library looking for any mention of the Kazehime trials. She had searched for the past four days and came up empty. She needed to know what the Kazehime trials were. Were the trials like the Chuunin exams? She was getting desperate as time was quickly getting away from her.
The only place she had not looked in was the archive section. She made up her mind to look there hoping she would be able find the answers she needed. Matsuri started perusing through the scrolls in the K section.
After spending about two and half hours searching and not finding anything, she decided to go to the T section. Again, she found nothing. It all seemed like one big waste of time. She had already spent several hours in the library and told herself that she could always come back the next day.
While hanging out around the Kazekage office, Matsuri had overheard that Gaara and Temari would be returning in the next couple of days. She knew that once they returned that the trials would start. She only had a couple of days to find the answers she needed. So, she decided that she would get up early the next day and go to the library as soon as it opened and wouldn't leave until they chased her out.
The next morning, Matsuri awoke early, got dressed and had a quick breakfast. She made her way to the library. Upon arriving, she continued her search in the archive section. After searching for another three hours and not finding anything, she wanted to give up. It was then that she looked up from the table she was sitting at and looked at the space around her. She noticed a lone shelf off in a dark corner of the library. The shelf was overflowing with scrolls, dust and cobwebs. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in years.
She got up from where she was sitting and walked over to the shelf. After brushing some of the dust and cobwebs away from some of the scrolls on the fourth row of shelves, she grabbed a couple of the scrolls and took them over to the table. She unrolled the first scroll and started reading it. Some of the words she couldn't read, because they were either too faded or they were in a language she didn't recognize. In the middle of the scroll, she was able to make out the word, Kazehime.
Gasping, she took her finger and ran over the word. She followed the rest of the paragraph with her eyes. She had finally found what she was looking for. Going back to the beginning of the paragraph, she read:
The Kazehime Trials shall be used as a way to find the strongest kunoichi in the village. She shall be no younger than 16 and should show great knowledge of the desert in order to survive it. The trials will be a fighting competition between kunoichis. The last one standing will be given the title of Kazehime.
She couldn't make out the rest of the information as it had faded away over time, but she had enough information to help her form a plan. She figured that the trials took place in the desert and that she would need to battle other kunoichis in order to win the title. She would need to keep a close eye on Temari to find out when and where the trials would take place. Once she had that information, she could then continue her plan to participate in the trials.
After rolling up the scroll and replacing it with the others on the shelf, she decided to run home and start making a list of the things she would need to survive her time in the desert. She just hoped that she would have enough strength and fortitude to defeat her opponents and win. If she could win, then she could prove to Gaara that she was worthy to walk beside him and be his special hime.
After traveling three days with a brother who was despondent and keeping to himself, Temari couldn't wait to arrive home, take a shower and get a proper night's rest. She entered their home and found it empty. She warily climbed the steps up to her room. Throwing her pack near her bed, she landed face first on the bed and groaned. "Home sweet home," she murmured to herself. After lying on her bed for a few minutes, she willed herself to get back up so she could take a shower.
Temari finished her shower and started feeling a little better. She emptied her pack, throwing her used clothes in her hamper and put her scrolls on her desk. She unsealed and unrolled the scroll containing the information for the Kazehime trials. She thought back to the moment she confided in Shikamaru. It helped her feel more confident in her plan, knowing that he supported her.
Temari took a scroll and made a list of the information that she would need to distribute to the participants.
1. Invitation to the trials
2. Rules for the trials
3. Desert survival tips
When she finished her list, she started writing out what the invitation would look like and included where the kunoichis should meet and on what day the trials would start. She made sure to highlight in the rules where the kunoichis were not allowed to kill their opponents and that defeated participants would be removed from the trials immediately.
Temari felt that she had a good start on the materials she put together. Tomorrow, she would take the information to the printers to have copies made. She had over fifty packets that needed to be distributed. Putting the information back in her storage scroll, she rolled it back up and re-sealed it. She then left her room and walked downstairs for something to eat.
Finding the house still empty, Temari decided to make dinner for herself. Gaara and Kankuro could fend for themselves. She had just enough energy to eat and then she was going to bed.
Gaara had opted to return to his office instead of his home. He wanted to check in with Kankuro and get back to his work. He had hoped that if he drowned himself in his work, it would help keep his mind off of what he left behind in Konoha.
Kankuro was swiveling in Gaara's office chair when Gaara walked into his office. Gaara rolled his eyes at his brother's childish antics and growled out, "What do you think you are doing, Kankuro?"
"Oh, you're back," Kankuro answered Gaara with a surprised look on his face. "I didn't expect you to return so soon. How was your trip?"
"The trip was fine," Gaara growled at Kankuro. Gaara didn't want to go into too many details about his trip. He had his reasons for going and he was going to keep his reasons to himself. "Did you have any trouble while I was away?"
Kankuro noticed that Gaara seemed to be out of sorts, so he decided to keep his conversation with Gaara short. "No. No trouble at all," Kankuro uttered. "Everything was quiet while you were gone. Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine. I just want to get back to my responsibilities," Gaara responded, rather abruptly. "There is always so much to do. Why don't you go home and check in with Temari? I'm sure she missed you and could use the company."
"Sure thing, Gaara. Don't let things get you down. I'm sure you're thinking about the trials again. I know Temari said she had a plan and I think you need to trust her. She won't let you down."
"I do trust Temari," Gaara growled yet again. "I just want to be left alone for now. Just let me be."
"Ok, I'll leave. Just try to take it easy and don't let this get you down," Kankuro repeated nervously. "I'm sure everything will work out for the best."
Kankuro left Gaara to his work and hoped that whatever Temari had planned would end successfully. Especially, for Gaara's sake.
Author Notes:
Thanks to everyone for the reviews. I hoped you enjoyed chapter four. Chapter five is shorter as it is just a filler chapter. Chapter six will be the start of the trials.
So far, chapter four is my favorite chapter. I will be honest and confess that my husband is my editor. The paragraph in chapter four where Temari is twirling the flower and Shikamaru is twirling the cigarette butt was edited by my husband. Originally, it just had Temari twirling the flower, but my husband added Shikamaru's part about twirling the cigarette butt. It really shows a subtle connection between the couple and is my favorite ShikaTema moment in my story.
I am really looking forward to writing the trials and hope you enjoy the future chapters.
I am still looking for a beta so please PM me if you are interested.