Author's Note: This chapter is short but important. I hope you enjoy it. Please review! Thanks!
Sandstorms and Falling Leaves
Chapter 21: Family Matters
Gaara entered the apartment she shared with her sister slowly. The girl in question was in the living room, polishing her smaller fans. The redhead knew those fans hadn't been used in months. It was just something to pass the time. Temari was waiting for her.
That hypothesis was reinforced when the wind user set the fans aside as soon as the younger girl entered the room.
"You ready to talk now?"
Gaara nodded and sat stiffly in the chair opposite the older girl.
"Okay then, talk." Temari sat back and crossed her arms. She had decided to let Gaara explain at her own pace in the hopes of preventing any more panic attacks from the younger girl.
The ex-jinchuriki took a few moments to compose her thoughts before she began. "I made Naruto a betrothal necklace."
The older teen nodded, she had figured that much out. "I noticed."
"I didn't intend to give it to him right away. I was merely trying to be prepared if he ever asked me..." She blushed faintly.
Temari leaned forward in her chair, unable to contain her questions. "Then why did you give it to him and not tell him what it was?"
Gaara frowned and looked away from her sister's searching gaze. "I gave it to him because I had made it for him, but I don't think he'll ask me to marry him...at least not anytime soon." She shrugged slightly.
The pigtailed blonde sighed. 'If only you knew the truth, Sis.' Still it wasn't her place to spoil the leaf ninja's surprise so she had to come up with some other way to soothe her sister's self esteem issues. "Why not? You're a catch! You're smart, brave, strong, and beautiful. You can cook, you're great at diplomacy, and you can fight. You're fiercely protective of the people you care about and he should count himself lucky to be part of that group. I certainly do. Oh, and you became the leader of an entire ninja village at fifteen years old! Naruto would be crazy not to jump at the chance to marry you before someone else tries to sweep you off your feet."
Gaara found a small smile beginning at the corner of her mouth. Temari's words were almost an echo of Naruto's declaration the night before, though her sister wasn't as sweet. They reminded her of the sleepy answer to her whispered proposal and suddenly she didn't feel nearly so foolish for giving Naruto the sand flower necklace.
"I did ask him..." She said quietly, needing to tell someone about it.
Temari froze in shock, her mouth open to continue speaking.
Gaara looked away sheepishly. "He was asleep, so I don't think he remembers...but he said yes."
The blonde grinned and shook her head fondly. "Of course he said yes. I told you he'd be stupid not too. You should have asked when he was awake, baka."
The redhead stayed silent, considering the possible outcomes of that action.
The fan wielder shrugged, mildly exasperated. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll get around to asking you eventually."
The ex-jinchuriki felt a flicker of hope at her sister's confidence. Temari was generally better at reading people's social cues than she was, so if the blonde felt that Naruto really would want to marry her then maybe there was hope.
Temari's next words made the pale redhead go positively white. "Of course, he would have to discuss it with Kankuro first."
Gaara hadn't given that custom much thought. It wasn't an issue from her side of things, since Naruto had no living relatives that he knew of. The fact that Kankuro would stand in loco parentis to give his blessing on her engagement was more than a bit unsettling. Her brother was too protective of her by far, especially since the Akatsuki.
"Do you think he'd say no?" She asked thoughtfully.
Temari shrugged. "I couldn't say." She could actually guess but she didn't want to spoil their brother's fun. "It'll be up to Naruto to convince him when the time comes."
The tense redhead seemed to relax a bit at that. 'Naruto can be very convincing.'
Temari watched her sister's subtle shift in expression with satisfaction. She had managed to get some good information for Naruto, if she could manage to get it to him wherever he was, and she'd helped her sister with her persistent self esteem issues. All together she called that a successful discussion. She reached for her fans to finish cleaning them, couldn't leave the job half done after all.
Gaara wasn't finished yet though. "I need to talk to you about something else."
The blonde sat forward in her chair curiously. "Okay."
"I...haven't really discussed the problems I've had with my training since I...lost Shukaku." The redhead had learned quickly that any mention of her brief but untimely death had an immediate and negative effect on her siblings' moods so she tried to skirt around the subject.
Temari still frowned at the reminder.
The redhead pressed on hastily, explaining her dual chakra network and her failure to reach the stronger secondary system without losing control of her emotions.
Temari scowled when the younger girl had finished explaining. "Let me get this straight. The one tail radically remodeled your chakra system to suit itself but didn't connect the two networks so now you can't reach the majority of your chakra."
"I strongly doubt Shukaku expected to be ripped from my body, so it isn't really his fault." The redhead pointed out evenly, unsure why her oldest sibling seemed to be getting so upset about it. 'He especially would never have guessed I could survive after the extraction. As far as I know, no one else ever has.'
"That's not the point!"
"No it isn't." The ex-jinchuriki agreed calmly. "I needed you to know that, so I could discuss a possible method for...curing my problem."
Temari took a few deep breaths, wishing not for the first time that their father was alive again so she could kill him herself. The harm he had done to their family was deplorable, but the atrocity he had forced upon Gaara was inexcusable. 'All because he couldn't stand having another girl.' She forced those thoughts away, knowing they'd do nothing to calm her anger, and focused instead on what her little sister wanted to tell her.
Gaara pressed on when she felt she had the older girl's attention once more. "Shino-san and his family have offered to allow me to learn part of their clan jutsu. He says the kikaichu can make a bridge between my chakra systems for me...if I let them use me as a host."
Temari felt her insides squirm a bit at the idea. "For how long?" She asked, unknowingly echoing the redhead's question from earlier in the day.
"Permanently."
The blonde girl blanched. "Are...are you going to do it?"
The younger teen shrugged slightly. "I don't know. Should I?"
Temari shook her head. "No way. The last thing you need is something else living inside you. That's what got you...nearly got you killed." She hurried to correct herself as her words sent a stab of guilt through her heart. She was the oldest. It was her job to protect her younger siblings. However it seemed she was destined to fail continuously with Gaara.
Gaara was inclined to agree to some extent but she did feel compelled to point out the flaw in her sister's logic. "It's not the same."
"They're parasites, Gaara." Temari insisted. She didn't have any problem with Shino or his family jutsu but she couldn't shake the idea of Gaara going back to the way she was with Shukaku. Even after the redhead had gained control over the monster inside her she'd been so much more reserved than a thirteen year old should have had to be. Gaara deserved to be free to be her own person. "The last thing you need is something feeding off you. Tell me you aren't going to do it."
Gaara listened to her sister's reasoning, noting that it somewhat echoed her own. Still, she needed to keep her options open. "Not unless I have to." She promised.
Temari sighed, knowing that was as good as she was going to get from the younger girl.
Gaara put off going to sleep that night until well after her sister had retired to her own room. The older girl had reiterated her offer to share her bed and find out if her company could keep the nightmares away but the redhead had refused. She wasn't going to have someone there every night to keep the nightmares at bay for the rest of her life.
It was time to face her problems head on, starting with sleep.
She climbed into her narrow bed and closed her eyes, but sleep was slow in coming. Her thoughts drifted to the young man she had grown to love and she wondered what he was doing. Was he safe? Did he miss her?
She finally drifted off, his name a whisper on her lips. "Naruto."
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Kind of a short chapter but it didn't really work as part of the next section so there you have it. Before anyone can protest, no I don't think the kikaichu are anything like having a demon beast sealed inside you. I doubt Gaara would have any trouble controlling them should she decide to go through with it, but neither Gaara nor her sister are feeling very rational on the subject right now. We'll see if they change their minds. Next chapter: Will our little redhead figure out how to sleep on her own? Can anyone help her? Desperate measures may have to be taken.