Chapter 15 - A Family Discussion
"Sis, remember when you said that you wanted to see what Konoha really had to offer?"
"I remember Kankuro," Temari mumbled as the two reached their hotel room, finally back at base after a long day of exploring the village. "I remember it perfectly. . . I must ask. Why are you bringing this up now?"
"Because I know you won't admit what we're both thinking right now, so I will," He threatened, sounding almost playful as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Since I know you're about to milk this for all it's worth, I must warn you that I will smack you as payback later," Temari countered, narrowing her eyes at him. "I would do it now, but I'm simply too tired to give it the proper effort."
"Fair enough, and thanks for the warning," He conceded, his smirk still on his face. "Let's face it sis. Konoha has plenty to offer, PLENTY . . . I have a whole lot of pride for Suna. We were born there, raised there, and we will always support it, but this village . . . They have an obvious edge over us; a sense of life that Suna doesn't have, and today? Today, we just experienced a sample size of what this entire kingdom is possibly about, and it's honestly impressive!"
"I know," The wind mistress grumbled as she took out her room key. "As a visitor, it's amazing to witness how much this one village has and can produce . . . But as the crown princess of another country, it's intimidating."
"Intimidating?" Kankuro parroted as they entered the suite. ". . . Well, it's not fun seeing another kingdom's power when you know your own homeland isn't up to snuff."
"Today, we saw a glimpse of how far ahead the Fire Kingdom is compared to Wind, and this is only one village. Granted, this is the capital, but the other villages could be just as prosperous, if not more, than this one," Temari answered as she took her fan off her back before ungraciously flopping onto the couch, ignoring the setting sun descending beyond the horizon.
"This place. . ." She continued, looking up at the ceiling. "It's teeming with life. It has a vibrancy and energy that Suna doesn't match Kankuro . . . Suna feels like it's at a standstill. Like it's just stagnant with no idea how to progress any further from its current position."
"Considering the current situation back home, can you really blame our kingdom for being so slow to progress?" Kankuro asked as he took his puppet off his back. "Our kingdom has been in financial trouble for as long as we've been alive. . . It's gotten so bad that our father has had to sell some of his Gold Dust to help the kingdom make a profit. . . Our father, the freaking leader, the KING, must sell portions of his own unique jutsu to help the country make money. That's embarrassing if you ask me!"
"The weather we've been getting hasn't been helpful either," Temari added, grimacing. "We've had brutal dry seasons in recent years, and the last wet season was not ideal. . . We're not that known for our agricultural output in the first place - just enough to get us through the years, with some extra left over to trade with - but last year was the first time we had to import so heavily."
"At least things are improving on that front," Kankuro mumbled, already halfway through freeing Crow from its bindings. "It's the mining industry that's proving to be the most troublesome sector these days."
"You got that right," Temari trailed off, pinching the bridge of her nose as she spared a thought to what was once the biggest lifeblood of their kingdom.
Despite the dim reputation deserts usually get, they still hold a wealth of treasures left to be explored, mostly hidden beneath the sands. The Wind Kingdom had taken advantage of its environment by leaps and bounds over the decades, mining and cultivating precious minerals to enrich itself and use for trade with the other kingdoms.
However, in recent years, some of their bigger mines were starting to dry up. Coupled with some of their biggest trade partners discovering mineral deposits in their own lands, and you had a recipe for a weakening trade market overall, and people were starting to notice.
"Mining is still strong, but it isn't at the levels of production we're used to seeing, and it's starting to put some people on edge," Temari admitted as she took out a sealing scroll from her pack. "You've heard it just as much as I have in court, Kankuro. The whispers are becoming too hard to ignore."
"Yeah, I've heard them," The puppeteer grumbled as he put the bindings off to the side. "People are starting to question Father's power. . . Sure Pa still has his group of supporters, but money talks. If things don't improve, he'll start to lose that support, and they will call for a new person to rule."
"That new person would be me, Kankuro." Temari matter-of-factly stated as she unsealed a small fan from her scroll.
"Oh, really sis?" Her brother challenged. "Are you sure about that?"
Temari was quick to scowl at such a question, but Kankuro was admittedly unfazed, and in truth, she knew he was making a point, and a good one at that. Their homeland wasn't the only kingdom to not have a queen rule in her own right in its history, but it was by far the most conservative on that front, even more conservative than the Earth Kingdom in that respect, and they were known for being the stubborn ones.
Many of the nobility's male and elder members were either outright against or not too keen on the idea of a queen ruling over the land in her own right. Some had even tried to convince King Rasa to pass over Temari in favor of Kankuro once he was born and his gender was known.
However, the king and queen immediately refused such an idea, with the king himself famously stating that as the firstborn, it was Temari's birthright to be the crown princess. She may have her issues with him now, but she appreciated her father's stance on the subject.
She was still curious as to why he stuck to it though. Considering the mindset of much of the noble class combined with the fact that she has two younger brothers, anyone else in Rasa's shoes would have pushed her aside for Kankuro immediately, or even Gaara if they were that daring. She tried to ask him about it numerous times, but he was either busy with work or simply ignored the question altogether.
"The people at court are stubborn old fools that have no vision. They're so stuck in their old ways and hell-bent on keeping with the traditions they were raised on that they wouldn't know a new idea if they were smacked in the face with it," She ranted as she started fanning herself. "They're too scared of the thought of me being queen regnant because they've never experienced the rule of one in their collective existence, and the possibility of one unsettles them to no end."
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to drink," Kankuro mumbled, his analogy not lost on his sister. "Look, I'm sure that if you were a lot more . . . malleable to their interests, then they would certainly be fine with you sitting on the throne, but you're not."
"But I'm not. . ."
"EXACTLY!" The puppeteer exclaimed as he pointed her way. "You're not. In fact, you're the exact opposite: strong willed, intelligent, and stubborn. You're someone that knows exactly what she wants and how exactly you plan to do it, and that's very dangerous to them in their eyes."
"Way to make me feel better Kank," Temari mused, amused by how energized her brother was acting.
"I'm just telling it to you straight Big Sis," He admitted. "Anyway, let's face it, if those old coots can't find a way to influence you, their next best bet is keeping you out of power! Power and influence; that's all they want, and if they can't get it through you, then they'll try to get it through their next best bet: ME!"
She watched her brother as he tinkered with one of Crow's joints, a determined scowl now dotting his face. Despite the bumbling, sarcastic facade he tended to show at times, Kankuro was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for.
If people thought Temari was a hard person to sway, they would only get the same result in Kankuro.
It would just take them longer to realize it.
"And if they find out that you won't be swayed so easily, they'll probably go after Gaara next." She added, eliciting a laugh from her brother in return. "What?"
"Can you just imagine someone trying to influence Gaara? Like really? Our baby brother?!" He cackled as he looked up from his work. "Gaara is continuously fighting back the influence of probably the most unstable tailed beast that's ever existed, and Shukaku was sealed inside of him before he was even born! Trust me, if he can keep Shukaku relatively at bay for this long, I'm sure the other nobles will be a cakewalk for him."
"Why Father allowed such an action in the first place is beyond me," Temari mumbled, having always been irritated by such a decision. "I understand that it's pretty much a given that someone in the family has to serve as Shukaku's jailor to maintain our family's power, but did he have to seal him in Gaara before he was out of Mother's womb! Childbirth is already a struggle for women as it is! Having to birth a child who has become the new vessel of the One Tails practically seconds prior to the actual birth is mind boggling to me, and this is his wife we're talking about. Our mother!"
"It definitely wasn't one of Father's best moments as king, let alone as an actual father. . ."
The new voice was sudden, but familiar to the siblings, both of them looking up to find their little brother standing on the ceiling with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down on them as if he was a bat watching its next meal. His face was impassive, as if he wasn't ashamed for butting into their conversation like he did.
To be honest, he probably wasn't.
"Well hello to you too little brother," Kankuro greeted him, almost sounding annoyed as he went back to his work. "And how long have you been listening in this time around hmm?"
"Long enough, if I'm being honest," The redhead admitted as he dropped from the ceiling, speaking the typical answer he used whenever he suddenly appeared during someone else's conversation. "And yes Temari, I agree. The old man was completely out of his mind to allow the sealing in the way that he did."
"Glad to hear I have your complete agreement on the subject Gaara," Temari mused as she sat up. "And sorry. . . I hope what we were just talking about didn't open any old wounds."
"Don't apologize Temari. Besides, you're not wrong," The redhead conceded. "You're not wrong about Father, and you're certainly not wrong about the traditionalists back home. . . You won't allow yourself to be controlled. Kankuro won't make it easier for them either if they manage to get you out of the way, and me. . . I already have to deal with a bloodthirsty tanuki sealed inside me on a daily basis. I don't need overbearing nobles on my case either, well, more than they actually are already."
"Am I really that bloodthirsty?" Shukaku was quick to ask, his tone slow, deliberate, and holding nothing but sarcasm, but Gaara chose to ignore him completely, much to the beast's consternation.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Gaara," His brother mumbled. "We're not just royalty. We're ninjas as well . . . Any of us could die at any time, and if Temari and I die, it leaves your path to the throne as clear as day."
"Yes, you make a fair point there," The redhead admitted. "And if dying in battle or while on a mission doesn't knock you out of the line of succession, who you possibly marry could."
"Well, I wouldn't be too concerned about a potential walk down the aisle for myself," Kankuro mumbled as Temari's face seemingly darkened at the change of topic. "Temari, on the other hand, is a much different case."
Gaara needed no explanation on that front. The future marriage of the heir to the throne has always been an important issue among the kingdoms, and the Wind Kingdom was not much different. However, since its current heir is a girl, there was much more importance behind it.
For Temari, her ideal scenario would be to marry someone from within the kingdom, preferably someone within the aristocracy or from a generally wealthy background. Even though marriage between royalty and commoners was not outright forbidden, it was heavily frowned upon by the court at large.
That did not stop their mother from becoming the first commoner to ever marry into the royal family when she married their father all those years ago.
It was a shock to many when then-Prince Rasa announced his engagement to the Wind Court one surprisingly summery afternoon. He had shown no interest in pursuing romantic interests up to that point, having focused on sharpening his shinobi skills and preparing to lead as the next king up to that point, so many were floored when not only did Rasa announce his engagement, the woman he planned to marry was standing right next to him when he spoke.
To that point, Karura was a complete unknown to the Wind nobility. The daughter of the owners of a small apothecary shop that was popular with the shinobi class, she grew up quietly, helping her parents run the business while her brother Yashamaru pursued his ninja career. Dressed in a simple, yet elegant blue kimono that complemented her indigo eyes, she didn't look daunted by all the eyes that were going to be on her from that day forward, knowing that the people in her fiancé's world would not accept her so easily.
The announcement dashed the hopes of all the families that were hoping to see their daughters rise to become the next Wind Queen. They saw it as a lost opportunity to form a connection with the royal family, and thus, expand their own prestige and influence in court.
Others thought it was a missed opportunity for different reasons, geopolitical reasons. With their limited allies and trading partners, Rasa could have made a political match outside of the kingdom to strengthen ties or form an entirely new alliance that could work for both sides, but alas, it did not happen.
Some just saw Rasa's choice as messing with established tradition, especially those that believed that marrying Karura 'would only sully the royal lineage with commoner blood', as one noblewoman so eloquently put it. She was swiftly reprimanded for her comments, but the sentiment still remained among those that agreed with her thinking. Unfortunately for them, there were no rules against royalty marrying someone from the commoner class, and the engagement was allowed to continue.
Despite all the criticisms, the wedding went along as planned, and eventually their mother and father were crowned king and queen in a grand coronation attended by citizens, the nobles, and esteemed dignitaries alike. Over time, Queen Karura became accepted in the court thanks to her sharp mind and social skills, showing an expertise in politics that hadn't been seen since the days of the reign of the Second King and Queen.
It also didn't hurt that she proved to be quite the capable matchmaker, making pairings that actually led to successful marriages that proved fruitful for the families involved. Overseeing the social circles that dominated the court was always a role that a queen had to fill, and Queen Karura fulfilled that particular role better than most, which helped to grow her pool of allies.
No, the larger issue for Temari was if she married someone from outside the kingdom. Her choice of husband would always come under scrutiny by her fellow nobles and the Council, but as Crown Princess, marrying someone from outside the Wind Kingdom had its own unique brand of challenges.
She had to be wary of any and all potential suitors, especially those with highly ambitious political aspirations, and commoners were likely completely out of the question for her. Her suitor's background would be checked and rechecked thoroughly, and whichever kingdom he came from would be crucial for potential alliances and future trade deals. Plus, he had to be compatible with her for the relationship, something that Temari was hell-bent on insisting on whenever the topic was brought up.
She didn't have to love them immediately, but she should be able to work with him in the future.
"Don't worry about me and my future marriage," The blonde mumbled. "Besides, I have no plans on marrying any time soon."
"Are you sure about that?" Kankuro teased as he dislodged one of Crow's arms from its socket. "From my perspective, you seem to have taken quite a liking to that Shikamaru guy when we crossed paths with him around lunch time. . . Always sneaking looks at him when you thought he didn't notice."
"You saw your opponent?" Gaara asked as their sister stubbornly looked away from him.
"Yeah. . . Look, when we stopped at this barbecue place for lunch, we didn't expect anything besides some decent food. Next thing we know, we end up sitting in the booth next to the one where he and his team were sitting." She admitted as she continued to look off to the side.
"Did you manage to find out anything about him?"
"He was the quietest in his group, for good reason I guess," Temari mumbled. "He only spoke once or twice, mostly about Akimichi's eating habits. . . Yamanaka took up most of the conversation, and proving how shallow she appears to be, she mostly talked about herself."
"Did they notice you two?"
"They were trying not to, but it was easy to tell that they saw us," Kankuro explained as he continued to fiddle with his puppet's arm. "So, what about you little bro? Any luck on your end with the info gathering?"
"I've reached a dead end as well . . . Sasuke is out of the village on some training mission with his sensei, and considering how large the surrounding territory is, it'll take me quite a while to find them," Gaara answered as he looked out the window.
"And how exactly did you find that out?"
"Princess Shizuka told me."
"Wait . . . WHAT!?" Kankuro yelled as he looked up from his work, almost dropping one of his puppet's poisoned senbon needle compartments in the process.
Temari had a much more reserved reaction, shooting up from the couch with interest in her eyes. "She . . . SHE TOLD YOU?! JUST LIKE THAT?"
"Pretty much Kankuro," Gaara bluntly admitted. "She followed the sand that was dropping from my Third Eye jutsu until she found me spying on the Uchiha family compound . . . That's when she told me."
"Huh. . ." Temari mumbled, never expecting a response like that. "Well, if there's one thing you should take away from that interaction, it's that you have to tighten your control on that jutsu for next time."
"Ha! Told you!"
Gaara ignored Shukaku as he glared at his sister, but he had to admit that she - and the demon tanuki, unfortunately - had made a good point.
When he glanced back at Kankuro, he saw that his brother was watching him with a curious look on his face, as if he wanted to ask a question, but didn't know how to proceed. . .
. . . Might as well give him an opening then.
"What is it now, Kankuro?"
"Care to explain to us why she would give you this info so easily?" His brother asked. "Seems a little random and suspicious if you ask me."
"You're not wrong to think like that," Gaara conceded. "And I asked her the same thing . . . She said that regardless of kingdom affiliation, everyone remaining in the competition is an enemy. If giving me info on Sasuke benefits her in the long run, then so be it . . . Plus, she doesn't like the Uchiha's attitude that much, so this is her way of getting back at him."
"Considering how he's acted since we first met him, I don't blame her," Temari mumbled, bringing a hand to her chin. "Plus, she's right . . . Yes, we're siblings, but as long as we're still in this competition, we are each other's enemies. And yes, we need to bring a win home to Wind, but I still want to beat you guys."
"Well someone is sounding confident," Kankuro mumbled. "Do you honestly believe you have the best chance at victory when your competition includes three jinchuriki, one of them being our own little brother?!"
"Glad to hear you have such confidence in me Kankuro," Gaara mumbled, though he was obviously suspicious.
"I'm just being realistic here, unlike someone else we know," The puppeteer admitted, immediately dodging the fan thrown his way. ". . . You just can't handle the truth Temari! We both know it!"
"We can argue about it later," Temari grumbled as she walked over to the phone. "I'm calling room service. What do you guys want for dinner?"
Thirty minutes passed before the food arrived, and Baki managed to return just as the food was being set on the table. Though the three expected for Baki to ask about how their day went, mainly to see how much info they gathered, he did the exact opposite, remaining silent for the entire meal.
After dinner was finished and the trays were left out in the hallway, Kankuro went back to his room to work on his puppets, while Baki went into the living room to catch up on some light reading. Temari decided to take a walk around the hotel for a little bit, but Gaara opted to leave the building entirely.
Deciding a change of scenery was in order, he traveled to the roof and used his sand to transport himself toward the northern part of the village. He came to a stop on one of the tallest buildings in the area, the perch a good spot to watch the full moon in its entirety.
"The seal tends to make all the difference for us jinchurikis . . . Improperly configured seals, or ones not designed tohandle the chakra load, will lead to unintended consequences. Maybe that's the case for you . . ."
"Are you really thinking about that again?!" Shukaku griped. "Give it a break already!"
Gaara tuned out the tanuki before he could say anything further. Save for his talk with his siblings earlier, his conversation with Shizuka was all that he could really think about. Though he managed to spend the rest of the day using his Third Eye to search the immediate area surrounding the village for Sasuke and his sensei, his thoughts were never too far away from his conversation with the Fire Princess.
"Were those that conducted the sealing ceremony really that reckless?" He thought to himself as he looked up at the moon. "Could they have really bungled something so serious?"
"You'd be amazed at the amount of stupidity humans are capable of. Trust me, I've witnessed a lot!" Shukaku admitted. "The fact that I was sealed inside of you before you were even born is definitely up there in the stupidity rankings, don't you think?"
"I won't begrudge you on that one Shukaku," Gaara conceded. "And where was father in all of this? The ruling monarch always oversees the sealing of a tailed beast, so he must have been there when it all happened."
"That's something you have to ask him yourself," Shukaku advised, strangely being helpful for once. "I certainly don't have an answer for you there!"
"I figured you didn't. . ."
As the redhead mulled over the multiple questions he didn't have answers for, a shadowy presence was looking up at him from the street below. His face was covered, save for his left eye, but from the way he eagerly looked at the prince, it wasn't hard to imagine the smirk hidden underneath his bandages.
"Well, well, well . . . Looks like today is my lucky day."
If only he knew. . .
A/N; Leave a comment if you like!