TEN YEARS BEFORE THE TRAGEDY_
The spring came and spread its shine across the spacious gardens of Temari's home, the blue sky wide but quite dull for such a colorful place that is the earth, with variations of green mixing and flowers blooming delicately.
Temari took a simple walk to mask the boredom of such a day. She walked step by step across a nicely arranged garden, stopping before the pile of red roses. A flower with the meaning of undying love and passion. But to her, they are just a reminder of how awful tragedy could get.
She remembers it all too vividly, a beautiful bouquet of deep red roses on her mother's bedside table. Sunlight struck their widely open petals, making the blood of her mother gleam ever so bitterly. Red liquid drips onto tiny hands and then on extravagant white shoes.
A child, standing, her surroundings ruined by nasty red, looking through an open window, a light spring wind ticking its face. While holding a stern expression Temari walked to her mother's side slowly, took her bloody hand, and fell on her knees, bathing her little white dress in red. She bowed her head proudly, with grace, worthy of the queen her mother once was.
"Thank you for your service, dear mother." She said,
emotionless, then sat up, going her way. She did not cry, because that's not what you are supposed to do when you are trying to live. Her mother was one of those softhearted unfortunates. And she ended up like this. Dead.
But thinking about past sacrifices was never needed, especially at times like this when it had taken her to very embarrassing situations.
With her mind preoccupied she let her legs lead and her eyes close, drying the world's colors out. It was rare for Temari to space out, to leave the troubles behind, and for a good reason at that, It always led her to disaster and today was no different.
She heard a boyish voice and then felt her weight hitting the ground. Her eyes opened hesitantly and met another confused glare. A glare of a familiar boy, changed by years just a little but enough for her to recognize a little body her father held against its will.
"Long time no see? How did this happen?" he said, still looking at her, his body stiff, a blush unmistakable.
That's when it hit her. She was on him for quite some time now.
"Well hello, you haven't changed a lot." she didn't answer but changed the topic. It was a habit of hers, the one she couldn't seem to get rid of. An obvious one to spot as well. But it masks the embarrassment with ease, which could be quite useful.
"Could Her Highness, maybe, get up?" he raised his brow questioningly.
"Oh, yes." She got up, now sitting beside him on the green blanket of grass, behind them an old tree, one of those hardly ruled by time. Scraped and strained by its age but still sitting strongly. Temari quite liked it. She liked the endurance it carried.
"So, what is your business these days besides falling on innocent people?" he settled with the simpleness of that question.
"I was just lost in thought."
"You don't seem like someone who would be."
"What do you know, we met only once."
"True. But Im good at reading people if you might know."
"So where were you all these years? I tried to find you again but you never came back to that room or nowhere in the palace."
"You love to change the topic don't you," he said, his head tilting a little, like a confused puppy looking at its owner. He noticed her little habit.
"Just answer the question."
"Why would I?" Cornes of his mouth quirked into something resembling of smile. He likes doing this. Messing with her.
"Because I said so!" A very lousy excuse, but he was getting on her nerves.
"I was away." Suddenly the air turned tense. Like his absence was a crude reality to face.
"I could tell, but why?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Why?"
"Your father will hurt me." Oh, how predictable. Her father was using his usual discipline matters. Pure violence.
"Okay." She didn't ask for more this time around. "So, do you want to be my friend this time?" Her habit came back, now with acceptable timing.
"You forgot again princess. I don't like you. So until you make me like you, there is no friendship to be discussed."
"You didn't change. Okay, I will make you like me even if it's the last thing I do!" she shouted. Getting up fastly with no hesitance. And like the last time storming to her room.
She left him like last time.
He smiled gently.
"Princess, stop changing the topic, people will figure you out!" he shouted, which for now, to her, it was out of character for him. For the character of him, she created.
She turned around and for the first time, she saw a small but radiant grin on his face.
She was stunned.
"And, what got you in such a good mood." a cheerful voice, quite the contrast to Temaris's crude one echoed through the simply adorn room. Painted in faint blue.
"Im not in a good mood." Temari lied.
"Yes you are, you can't fool me dear. I knew you for enough time to notice."
"Stop it, Lilia."
"So mean for nothing. What should we do with this foul temper of yours." the jolly girl, Lilia, pinched Temaris's cheek, her laugh filling the air. Lilia was a girl her father brought one day, similar to that boy from the garden.
Now when she thought about it, she never asked for his name.
Lilia took the hairbrush from the wooden table and started brushing Temaris's hair, getting through knots with a gentle touch she never lost throughout all these years. As expected of someone like her.
A long line of healing professionals, that's what Lilias's family was, until Temaris's father came into the story that is. Both of their fathers had some unfinished business from the past, not a pretty one at that. And it was widely known how the business of sorts with their ruler ended.
Fortunately, the king shows mercy to the useful ones and this little girl will be useful.
"Lilia, you are just nine you should stop treating me like a child."
Lilia jumped off the bed, her light pink dress swaying. "Stop talking nonsense. We are both just children." Her sky-blue eyes twinkled in the light together with her wavy bush of long, white hair. Quite a pretty girl, cute while pouting. Thin arms with a small hand sitting on her hips displaying what a fragile being she was.
"I'm still the older one," Temari said in a sing-song voice, teasing her little friend.
"Mean," Lilia said, just shrugging off Temari's bugging. She always did that, Temari noticed, allowed, and turned a blind eye. A true peacemaker, never wanting conflict. "So you're not gonna say what got you so happy."
"No."
The next time they met he held a sword.
It was on the training grounds by a pure accident. She was sneaking out, trying to get a taste of using a sharp blade but success of it was the rarest. The king forbid her from using such things a long time ago. But she was persistent and never gave up. She would steal swords from her guards, bribe and threaten them for it. She was not proudest of it, but some things call desperate measures.
Today, she was out of luck. Her father assigned one of his loyal ones. One of those who never disobey and report to him instantly, so she didn't even try. Temari was a smart child after all.
So she decided to just watch. There were some young apprentices and students of the knights, trying to perfect the art of killing to be valued. She would sometimes train with them. They were like guards, threatened to keep their mouths shut.
She looked around, examining her surroundings and surprisingly, finding that there was only one person present.
She watched him. He swung the blade with amazing clarity and precision, it looked like he was good enough to have a job on the battlefield front. She was in awe until she saw the expression on his face. He looked bored, and his face painted a picture of a kind of secret sadness. She was intrigued.
So she ran to him. She didn't mind her dress getting dirty, she would never mind something so trivial. With her last step, he looked at her. Suddenly erasing signs of the dejected face. He possessed a good mask, she decided.
"Do you want to try?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Really?" she looked at him hopefully. It's the first time someone just gave her the sword. She didn't need to try to bribe or terrorize him. She needn't to even ask. He did it instead.
"Why not? You would be taking a burden."
"So the blade is a burden for you."
"Yes."
"You're weird. It's fun."
"It's fun until it's used to scar someone, I do not favor violence."
"I don't like it too but sometimes it comes to be necessary."
"I don't like that it's necessary."
"Well, that's unfortunate, if you want to be a knight you need to learn to use it"
"I don't want to be a knight," he said and it confused her. Why was he here then? Why was he doing something he was so against if that was not his goal?
"Oh, not a knight, what are you here for then?"
"I can't tell you that." The same sentence came out of his mouth yet again.
"Why?"
"Your father will hurt me." Again. How predictable.
"Ah, I expected as such. Okay, I understand then."
They talked no more. He just handed her the sword and she took his place, swinging and slashing. She could feel his eyes on her, so she looked his way. And that's when it came to her.
"What's your name?" She asked.
He smiled gently before saying. "Shikamaru."
And his smile surprised her yet again.