Mother
In the Village Hidden in Sand, someone was crying. A two year old blonde girl was crying shrilly because she accidentally dropped a ceramic cup and cut her index finger on the sharp edges. Milk had spilled from the cup all over the floor. She was then confronted by a warming voice.
"What happened here?"
At that moment, the girl's crying started to stop, but she still let out a hiccup every now and then. She would never let herself break down in front of the woman kneeling before her. She was amazingly pretty. She had short dirty blonde hair, pale brown eyes and a wonderful smile. And from the size of her belly, one could tell that she was at least five months pregnant.
"Did you hurt your finger? Here, let me look at it."
As the woman held up the little girl's hand, her crying seemed to cease completely, though that didn't stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. The woman kissed the girl's finger and it seemed to stop the bleeding, though the cut was still visible. The woman then looked in a cupboard nearby and took out a small bandage roll, wrapping some of it around the girl's finger and tearing off the end.
"It's just a little cut, but you'll be fine. Doesn't that feel better, child?"
The little girl stared at the bandage before looking at the woman and hugging her. "Mama…"
The woman called "Mama" smiled and stroked the little girl's hair. "You're such a brave girl…Temari. Now, why don't we get you some more milk?"
The little girl named Temari nodded happily and followed her mother.
"Temari? Temari!"
A pair of dark green eyes opened. Temari, now 15, stood leaning over a rail at a balcony of the Kazekage's mansion. The wind had picked up quite a bit since her little dream. With her, of course, was her younger brother, Kankuro, who was annoying her with his puppet, Karasu.
"Hey! The ninja puppet's talking to you!"
Temari hastily shoved Karasu out of her face, displeased at her brother's attempt to cheer her up. Honestly, she had heard quite enough of that annoying clicking sound it always made. Though it seemed for a split second that there was a small smile on her face.
"Sorry, Kankuro," Temari said, hastily.
Kankuro stood next to her, staring in the same direction she was.
"Were you thinking about Mom?"
Temari nearly cricked her neck as she looked at her brother, who merely grinned widely.
"You're never this quiet for any other reason."
This comment earned Kankuro an icy glare from Temari, which could only be comparable to the constant one on their younger brother's face. But regardless, she shook her head and continued to stare out at the view of the Sand Village.
"Yeah…I was thinking about Mom," Temari spoke, quietly. "I think, aside from Father, I'm probably the only one of us who really got to know Mom the best." As she spoke, she couldn't help but stare at her right index finger. The cut had healed up two days after she broke that cup, but even now, she could still feel her mother's warm kiss on it…
"Just don't say anything about her in front of Gaara," Kankuro said, before walking away. "You know how he gets when we talk about her."
As he spoke, Temari stared at her brother. Those were the wisest words to ever come from Kankuro's mouth. But as Temari continued to watch as the wind picked up on some of the sand, she never noticed that a red haired boy with black rings around his eyes standing quietly around the corner. The boy walked away, pressing his fingers to the "love" tattoo on his forehead.
Mother…
A/N: Karura died giving birth to Gaara, and in the process she cursed the Village Hidden in the Sand. But I don't feel she was always that way before he was conceived. I felt she must've had a kinder side with Temari, at least. Anyway, there's my oneshot. Flamers will be hosed.