Sorry about the odd skip in this one. I really had no idea what to do in between the last one and this one, so I just stuck with this. It's pretty short and meaningless; I'd call it a filler chapter but since it's a oneshot...filler oneshot. Yeah. That'll do. Also, in case you couldn't tell, this takes place just before they make their debut in the anime.

Flicker of Hope

"Wait'll the Leaf gets a taste of what we Sand ninja can do," Kankuro taunted.

Temari nodded, her lips curving into a smirk. Suna had allied itself with the Sound, and they were planning to attack the unsuspecting Konoha during the Chunin Exams, which happened to be conveniently hosted there. They were posing as innocent genin, though they still actually were genin, and when the time was right they would unleash a deadly attack on Konoha, leaving it pathetically weak or destroyed altogether. Personally, Temari hoped for the latter.

Gaara remained silent, staring straight ahead but not seeming to be looking at anything in particular. Temari wanted to beat him up, demand to know what he had done with her little brother that had been stolen three years ago, but she wisely did nothing. She may have been angry, but Gaara could easily kill her, as she had seen him do to countless others, at least half of whom had been completely innocent. They had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Temari gulped, thinking of what it would be like if it was her who one day ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Something wrong, Temari?" Kankuro asked. Gaara said nothing, but shifted his eyes ever so slightly toward her.

"No," she replied, scowling when she saw Kankuro's grin.

"You're not...scared, are you, Temari?" he mocked.

Temari sent a death glare at her brother. "No," she hissed.

Kankuro shrugged, his teasing grin still in place. "Whatever you say," he said in a sing-song voice.

Acting on her anger, Temari whipped out her large fan and sent a gust of wind Kankuro's way. Not enough to send him flying, or even give him minor cuts, but enough for the message to get through his thick head.

"Ow..." Kankuro whined. "Temari hit me!"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like such a child!"

"Both of you be quiet."

Instantly the two bickering siblings stopped, forgetting about their fight in the fear that Gaara would get angry with them. Though they didn't have much to worry about right now; Gaara needed the two of them to enter the Chunin Exams, which required three-man squads. But after that...they were fair game.

Temari was furious that Gaara had so much power over them. One false move and they were dead. But, as much as she wished to do so, Temari could not stand up to Gaara. At least, not without ending up in the afterlife. So until she found a way to overpower Gaara and get her brother back, she would have to swallow her anger and follow Gaara's orders. And as soon as she did, he would end up killed twice; once in this world, and a second time in the afterlife. There would be nothing but darkness for Gaara for the rest of eternity. It would serve him right for taking away her youngest brother.

I'll get you back, she promised the real Gaara. The Gaara to her left looked over at her, as if he had heard her thoughts. Although she tried not to, she could not help but look into his pale green eyes and swore she saw, for an instant, the real Gaara. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, and Temari dismissed it as her imagination.

The real Gaara was gone, stolen by that monster three years ago. But Temari would find a way to bring him back, no matter what.