Disclaimer: Naruto is not my creation…Kinaand Lilith are, but not anyone else.
Chapter 5: Seeding the Field
Shouting wasn't an unusual occurrence in the Kazekage's Mansion. With two volatile leaders, three opinionated siblings, and a three-year-old, tempers and egos often clashed.
Case in point: everyone noticed how Temeki's attitude had changed subtly in the months after the Valentine's Day Dinner.
Some put it to her added duties at the Academy since Kinabuhi-sama announced that she was pregnant once more. Others whispered that it was her lack of male companionship that made the kunoichi so testy. Still others went one step further and gossiped that the kunoichi with the light-blue eyes had fallen in love with the shadow user from Konoha.
And they also whispered that the engagement and marriage between the aforementioned shadow user and the kunoichi's sister-in-law added to Temeki's bad temper.
But everyone agreed that today's argument put all of the previous ones to shame.
Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, and Lilith's eyes widened as they heard Kina and Temeki yelling at each other in Gaara's office.
The newlyweds had just returned from gathering the last of Temari's possessions from her old home and had only stopped to say goodbye. The quartet was in the foyer of the Mansion—one floor below and 25 meters away from Gaara's office.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?" Kina yelled. "WE'VE DONE EVERYTHING WE COULD FOR YOU!"
"AND I'M STILL STUCK LIKE THIS!" Temeki yelled back. "YOU PROMISED THAT I WOULD GET STRONGER AND I'M NOT. YOU PROMISED I'D HAVE SOMETHING TO COME HOME TO EVERY NIGHT AND I DON'T. FACE IT, KINABUHI; I'M NOT LIKE YOU! I'M NOT GOING TO FIT INTO THIS PERFECT LIFE YOU HAVE!"
Kankuro and Temari looked at each other. Had the Uchiha finally snapped?
Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed. He expected something like this to happen—in fact, Tsunade had all but guaranteed it when he'd given her Temeki's yearly psychiatric report. But he didn't know that it would start so soon.
"YOU'VE BARELY STARTED!" Kina replied. "IT'S SO LIKE YOU TO TRY TO GET EVERYTHING RIGHT AWAY! YOU'RE SO IMPATIENT, LIKE A CHILD!"
"DON'T CALL ME A CHILD, KINABUHI! JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MAKE YOU AN ADULT! WHO GETS PREGNANT AT SIXTEEN ANYWAY?"
Everyone heard a loud crash and Kina yelled again.
"DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME, YAWA TEMEKI! I AM STILL YOUR SISTER!"
"FOSTER SISTER!" Temeki shot back. "WE'RE NOT RELATED BY BLOOD, KINABUHI. DON'T PRETEND THAT I WAS ANYTHING MORE THAN A CHARITY CASE TO YOU!"
"CHARITY CASE?" Kina asked, obviously furious. "IF I THOUGHT YOU WERE A CHARITY CASE I WOULD HAVE PATCHED YOU UP, GIVEN YOU SOME MONEY AND LEFT YOUR SORRY ASS! I WOULDN'T HAVE WASTED MY CHAKRA HEALING YOU BY THAT GODDAMNED RIVER! I SHOULD HAVE LET YOU ROT, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!"
The three shinobi in the foyer froze. Kina's voice on the last sentence was filled with such hate and malice. It was also accompanied by the sound of her demon, Tsubakiri, making her presence known.
Lilith clung to her uncle in fear. She'd never heard her mother yell like that.
Kankuro handed the girl to a hovering servant and ordered them to lock themselves in the Kazekage suite.
"Tsubakiri might get out," Temari panicked and ran up the stairs, followed closely by Shikamaru and Kankuro.
Another crash vibrated throughout the Mansion and the trio quickened their steps.
They turned the corner in time to see Temeki get blown through the closed door of the Kazekage's office and slam against the wall by a beam of purple chakra. The girl tried to pick herself up off of the floor, but only made it to her knees before she fell back down.
"It's nothing more that you deserve you ingrate!" Kina yelled from the doorway. She was in her half-demon form, her hands in claws at her sides and her eyes glowing purple. Gaara stood behind his wife in his half-demon form, his arms hooked around her shoulders and his tail wrapped around her waist to keep her from the still form of Temeki.
He glanced at the three shinobi in the hallway from between Kina's purple/black wings. "Get her out of here!" he shouted, the power of Shukaku's voice doubling the Kazekage's normal tone.
"You'd better get her out of here!" Kina echoed. "Tell that ungrateful bitch that she's no longer welcome in my house! I refuse to allow—"
No one noticed that Lilith was walking down the hallway until she stood in front of her enraged mother. Everyone held their breath, with the exception of Temeki, who was still knocked out, and Kina, who was still ranting.
"Mama," the three-year-old said, her voice echoing with the same dual voice-tones that her parents had. "You need to calm down. Brother is getting upset."
Kina looked down at her firstborn and blinked. Was it her anger, or did Lilith have red cat ears and a black tail? Kina watched as Lilith placed her small hand on her mother's stomach and repeated herself.
"Brother's upset," she said, Lilith's cat demon added depth to the three-year-old's voice. "You both need to sleep now."
Kina's demon features retracted as her eyelids dropped down. In the next moment, the woman was asleep in her husband's arms. Gaara stared at his daughter and marveled at the fact that she managed to manifest her demon and use her powers at such a young age. But fatherly pride had to be shown later. Other matters were more important at the moment.
He reigned in his demon and saw that Lilith did the same. Gaara looked at Kankuro and handed him Kina's sleeping form.
"Kankuro, take Kina to our room and let her sleep," Gaara said. "Lilith-chan, go with Uncle Kanky and Mama. Thank you for your help, but I'll talk to you about releasing your demon later."
"Akakuro," the girl answered. "My demon's name is Akakuro." (1)
Gaara nodded and kissed his daughter's cheek. "I'm very proud that you and Akakuro are working together to look after your Mama and brother," he said. "But I still need to talk to you later, okay?" He watched as Lilith followed Kankuro and waited until they turned the corner before he motioned Shikamaru and Temari to enter his demolished office.
"What happened?" Temari asked.
"I'm not entirely sure," Gaara admitted. "We were discussing maybe hiring some new teachers for the Academy and then suddenly, Temeki starts ranting. I don't know why, but Kina's been moody because of the pregnancy—she still has morning sickness and it's been bothering her."
"She didn't have that with Lilith," Temari noted.
"Right," Gaara said. "But because of that, Kinabuhi just snapped back at Temeki and then it escalated from there." The Kazekage rubbed his hands over his face and ran them through his hair.
"Temeki managed to knock me out for a bit when I tried to intervene," he said.
"And that pissed Kinabuhi-sama off," Shikamaru concluded.
The redhead nodded and looked at the couple. "Kinabuhi is mad at Temeki right now, and vice versa," he started. "The best thing for everyone is if they spent some time apart."
Temari looked at her brother and frowned. "What are you suggesting, Gaara?"
"I'm suggesting that you take Temeki with you as your handmaiden," he said. "She can help keep you from being too homesick and it will give them both some time to cool off. Maybe a change of scenery is all that she needs."
"A change of scenery, yes," Shikamaru said. "But is Konoha the right place for Temeki to go? Especially now that Sasuke's exile is so close to being finished?"
Gaara looked through his broken doorway and stared at the still unconscious Temeki. "I think it will work out," he said. "It will give her the time to handle the Uchiha accounts and refit the Uchiha residences. Let's give her until the Summer Festival before she comes back to Suna."
"But the Summer Festival is more than four months away," Temari said.
"Better for Temeki to cool off before then," Shikamaru said. "If she's beginning to lose her sanity, then Godaime-sama will demand that the contract be honored."
Temari looked at her husband in confusion and frowned. She had no idea what contract he was talking about. But if the way Gaara sighed and closed his eyes for a moment was any indication, it wasn't anything good.
"Take her and leave as soon as possible," Gaara said, making up his mind. "Go to Temeki's apartment and pack all of her belongings. Tie her to her horse if she still hasn't regained consciousness, but leave before Kina wakes up."
Temari shook the feeling of being rushed from her home and hurried to do as her brother ordered. It wasn't as if she was leaving for good. Temari looked at her brother and smiled. She'd be back to visit.
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"Shika-kun?" Temari asked.
Shikamaru looked over at his wife from his horse and raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you find it odd that all of Temeki's things were already packed?"
"Maybe she'd already planned on leaving and only went to Gaara today to ask for permission," Shikamaru said.
The blonde thought about it for a moment and frowned. "What do you think about Temeki's argument with Kina?"
He looked behind them and immediately saw Temeki's horse being led by a servant on another horse. He didn't miss the looks the others in their party gave the sleeping girl. Neither did he miss the whispers that were flying. He knew that as soon as they were settled in the Nara household, half of Konoha would know of Temeki's falling out with her sister.
He also knew that most would see her presence in the Hidden Village of Konoha as an exile from the Hidden Village of Sand.
"I think that maybe the loneliness got to her," he finally answered.
"But now a lot of people are going to hate her," Temari said. "The things she said about Suna and Kina-chan…the people in the village aren't easy to soothe when they're angry and they hold grudges for ridiculously long times."
Shikamaru shrugged and looked at the sky. It was going to rain soon. "Temeki made a mistake," he said. "No doubt about that. And she's going to have to pay for it."
Temari nodded sadly and turned to one of the servants in their entourage. "Pull the tarp over the wagon," she ordered. "It's going to rain."
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Temeki continued her pretense of being asleep even after the rain started falling. She knew that umbrellas were opened and offered to everyone in their group.
Everyone except her.
She had awoken tied to the back of her horse a while back. She subtly untied herself, but kept her eyes closed. If she opened them, she would have to meet the gazes of the others, and she didn't know if she could do that yet.
At least, not without showing the pain she felt glowing through her eyes. Everyone was going to expect bitterness and hate in the light blue orbs. Temeki didn't want to disappoint them.
Everything depended on it.
She was grateful for the rain. It hid the fact that tears spilled from her eyes. The scene with Kina was one of the most horrible experiences of Temeki's life.
It was one of the most horrible experiences of Sasuke's life, too.
For the second time in her wretched existence, Temeki found herself betraying the trust and love of the people she had once called friends.
At least, this time I didn't do it for selfish reasons, she consoled herself. This time I didn't do it to end life. But to protect it.
FLASHBACK"Do you understand, Temeki?" Gaara asked the girl.
She swallowed roughly and looked from her leader to his wife. Kina was looking at her with a worried expression and the blue-eyed woman hastened to relieve the tension that filled the room.
"I understand, Kazekage-sama," Temeki said. "I will do as you ask here in Suna. I will also accompany Shikamaru back to Konoha and aid him there. Once there, I will make every effort to reinforce everyone's idea that I hate you and your family."
Gaara nodded and held out his hand to her. "I know that this is a difficult thing for us to ask of you," he said.
Temeki smirked. "I have to admit, the possibility of becoming a missing nin from two Hidden Villages is one that never occurred to me. But the seeds must be planted."
Kina walked around Gaara's desk and hugged her foster sister close. "I'm so sorry," she cried. "We're asking you to play Judas and you're going to be hated as much as he was when everything is finished."
Temeki didn't know who Judas was, but she understood the basics of what the woman was saying. "It's alright," she said. "Just make sure that you stay safe. Make your clones as realistic as possible, Itachi's not the only one who can see through normal jutsus like that."
Kina nodded, returned to her position by Gaara's chair and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Ready?" he asked the two women.
Temeki took a deep breath and smiled at her foster sister one last time.
Kina nodded, tears already in her eyes. The purple-eyed woman opened her mouth and yelled loud enough for the entire Mansion to hear her.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
END FLASHBACKTemeki's tears flowed faster as she relived every moment of that stupid fight. She almost stopped when Gaara stood up and tried to get between the screaming women. But she remembered the hug Kina had given her.
Temeki remembered the feel of Kina's newly rounded stomach against her own flat one and immediately thought about her new niece or nephew.
The memory gave Temeki the strength of will to knock her friend unconscious and continue screaming at her foster sister.
I've betrayed my family, Temeki cried. Over and over I'm destined to betray those I love.
The low voice of Sasuke echoed through Temeki's mind and reassured the girl.
But the seeds must be planted.
A/N:
Oh gosh…yeah writing that was kinda intense. Plots and intrigue abound in the next chapters…stay tuned!
(1) Akakuro is a combination of aka and kuro which mean red and black, respectively. Lilith's demon is a red and black cat.