[Naruto Ficlet] Legacies
This was written as a birthday present for the lovely and talented sunsitenthai! She and duelist provided the inspiration for the voices of Temari and Kankurou. The fic is dedicated to them, and to the crew over at imamade_nandomo , the Naruto RPG that rocks my world, and in which I am lucky enough to play Gaara. This is a fic, not an rp, however, and was written entirely by me (it happens now and then ;D).
Fandom: Naruto
Title: Legacies
Author: datenshiblue
Genre: gen, SANDSIB! ;)
Spoilers: Yes
Warnings: uhhhh...? violence?
Notes: This takes place during a time period before the chuunin exams and attack on Konoha. How long before, I am not sure.
Disclaimer: (I've been skipping these lately) Characters, world not mine, Masashi Kishimoto's.
Legacies
A Sandsib Ficlet
If Kankurou had been with them, it never would have happened. He should have been, but the mission hadn't been scouted as efficiently as usual and the estimates of opposition were way off. Kankurou was still inside the complex, making his escape from the maze and the security forces inside with the scroll they had been sent to acquire, when Temari was surrounded on the outside by double their estimates of the entire country's military.
Temari and Gaara.
Gaara had been more difficult than usual on this mission, and probably was the reason the two outside had been discovered and surrounded. He wouldn't let even one sentinel pass within any distance of them, even those who hadn't detected their presence. His desire to kill had been increasing of late, along with other signs of instability. No one realized it was the anniversary of a certain event, and the death of a certain uncle. Even if they had, they probably wouldn't have connected it to Gaara's behavior, it had just become habit to assume the monster-child had no human feelings any more.
His restlessness had taken him to a cliff above where they were supposed to be hiding, where he remained when the large force attacked. A few projectiles were sent in his direction but the sand deflected them easily and he simply watched, arms folded, as the main group surrounded Temari.
Perhaps his thirst for blood was entertained by watching his sister fight - she was incredibly strong, and could handle ten to one odds with ease. Twenty to one with effort. Thirty to one with strain.
When it became fifty to one and he was still just watching, Temari realized she was in the fight of her life. It occurred to her for the first time in a long time as a ninja that she could die.
When a second force of higher-level shinobi joined the attackers, she cursed Kankurou for being slow.
When she slipped in blood and went to one knee, she snarled her curses out loud, so ferociously that her attackers were dismayed for a moment or two. But they saw her weakness before she did. A stray splatter of blood caused her grip on the huge fan to become unsure, and it slipped from her crimsoned fingers.
The triumph in her attackers' eyes was the last thing she saw.
That and the more distant glimpse of her baby brother standing on the cliff above, arms folded.
His face... he seemed to be scowling...
It hardly mattered what he was upset about, she was going to die.
Something struck her head and her vision blacked over. She felt impacts to her body as she went completely down. It wasn't supposed to be like this...
She couldn't see anything else but she heard the howl of her enemies' glee, loud in her ears. What a sound to die to.
Then a rumble that quickly became a roar drowned out the voices, which seemed to turn into cries of terror. As she collapsed, the ground seemed to meet her and lift her up... but that was probably what dying felt like.
And the roar dissolved into an almost-familiar voice, one that had been too deep for several years to match his age.
"Get away from her, you INSECTS!"
~ * ~
Kankurou reached them as the last few stragglers were fleeing in horrified retreat, the last slowest ones grabbed by their feet and pulled under the low wave of sand that followed. He waited until the sand retreated and found them at the top of the cliff. Gaara, standing, arms folded. Temari, bloodied and unconscious, lying at his feet. Her fan was beside her.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!"
It was a natural reaction, especially the way Gaara had been on this trip. The idea of Temari overwhelmed was ridiculous. There wasn't much evidence left of the numbers of attackers, most of it was strewed and half buried and unrecognizable.
Gaara stared through his older brother and simply looked away.
"If you got it, let's go. This place is boring."
The puppeteer all but snatched his badly injured sister from Gaara's feet, cradling her against him with a care he'd have denied to anyone to see, and didn't like showing in front of the monster. He checked her as gently as possible and realized he would have to move as fast as he was capable of. There was no time to be lost.
For the first time, ever, he did not look back to see if Sunagakure's super weapon was following. A large part of him hoped Gaara didn't, and the rest was contemplating, seriously for perhaps the first time, his chances of ever taking on the vessel of Shukaku.
~ * ~
Kankurou made it just barely in time. The medic-nins worked over Temari, exerting their full energies, for two hours.
In the end she escaped death by a hair and serious permanent injury by a breath.
She recovered slowly in the hospital. Kankurou delivered the scroll and spent the rest of his time either in her room or outside it.
Their father, the Kazekage, made one ten second appearance, received a report on her condition, looked at her for less than half the time, and left, mentioning that the mission must be counted a success even if his young team were substandard in their performance.
Gaara had returned, it was generally agreed because he had nowhere else to go.
In the hour before predawn, when the hospital was silent and still and even Kankurou was drowsing in his chair, the youngest child of the Kazekage walked into the building unchallenged, as he generally went anywhere he wanted to go.
He entered his sister's room silently, gauging Kankurou's sleep sufficient, or not caring.
He stood over the bed staring down at Temari for an hour.
Neither of his siblings realized how often he visited them as they slept. It had begun as a habit of hatred, watching them sleep, contemplating murder, brooding over the difference in fate that had given them the ability to sleep, the ability to be human, and not to be shunned by the rest of the human population. But at some point, curiosity had mingled with the hate and in the end, he wasn't sure any more why he did it. Or when he'd started talking to them as they slept. He only knew they never heard him, or else he would have stopped.
If he had realized Temari's exhaustion had been partially eased and her sedatives were wearing off, he might have remained silent. But he had no experience of such things.
~ * ~
"If mother had been like you... I would never have been born." Gaara's voice was soft, the timbre almost that of a sleepwalker. "If mother had been as strong as you... she'd never have bent to father's will. If there had been a child anyway, she'd never have let them take her life for the ceremony. If she had been like you."
"Why... wasn't she like you?"
"I wish..."
- - - - - - -
Fandom: Naruto
Title: Legacies
Author: datenshiblue
Genre: gen, SANDSIB! ;)
Spoilers: Yes
Warnings: uhhhh...? violence?
Notes: This takes place during a time period before the chuunin exams and attack on Konoha. How long before, I am not sure.
Disclaimer: (I've been skipping these lately) Characters, world not mine, Masashi Kishimoto's.
Legacies
A Sandsib Ficlet
If Kankurou had been with them, it never would have happened. He should have been, but the mission hadn't been scouted as efficiently as usual and the estimates of opposition were way off. Kankurou was still inside the complex, making his escape from the maze and the security forces inside with the scroll they had been sent to acquire, when Temari was surrounded on the outside by double their estimates of the entire country's military.
Temari and Gaara.
Gaara had been more difficult than usual on this mission, and probably was the reason the two outside had been discovered and surrounded. He wouldn't let even one sentinel pass within any distance of them, even those who hadn't detected their presence. His desire to kill had been increasing of late, along with other signs of instability. No one realized it was the anniversary of a certain event, and the death of a certain uncle. Even if they had, they probably wouldn't have connected it to Gaara's behavior, it had just become habit to assume the monster-child had no human feelings any more.
His restlessness had taken him to a cliff above where they were supposed to be hiding, where he remained when the large force attacked. A few projectiles were sent in his direction but the sand deflected them easily and he simply watched, arms folded, as the main group surrounded Temari.
Perhaps his thirst for blood was entertained by watching his sister fight - she was incredibly strong, and could handle ten to one odds with ease. Twenty to one with effort. Thirty to one with strain.
When it became fifty to one and he was still just watching, Temari realized she was in the fight of her life. It occurred to her for the first time in a long time as a ninja that she could die.
When a second force of higher-level shinobi joined the attackers, she cursed Kankurou for being slow.
When she slipped in blood and went to one knee, she snarled her curses out loud, so ferociously that her attackers were dismayed for a moment or two. But they saw her weakness before she did. A stray splatter of blood caused her grip on the huge fan to become unsure, and it slipped from her crimsoned fingers.
The triumph in her attackers' eyes was the last thing she saw.
That and the more distant glimpse of her baby brother standing on the cliff above, arms folded.
His face... he seemed to be scowling...
It hardly mattered what he was upset about, she was going to die.
Something struck her head and her vision blacked over. She felt impacts to her body as she went completely down. It wasn't supposed to be like this...
She couldn't see anything else but she heard the howl of her enemies' glee, loud in her ears. What a sound to die to.
Then a rumble that quickly became a roar drowned out the voices, which seemed to turn into cries of terror. As she collapsed, the ground seemed to meet her and lift her up... but that was probably what dying felt like.
And the roar dissolved into an almost-familiar voice, one that had been too deep for several years to match his age.
"Get away from her, you INSECTS!"
~ * ~
Kankurou reached them as the last few stragglers were fleeing in horrified retreat, the last slowest ones grabbed by their feet and pulled under the low wave of sand that followed. He waited until the sand retreated and found them at the top of the cliff. Gaara, standing, arms folded. Temari, bloodied and unconscious, lying at his feet. Her fan was beside her.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!"
It was a natural reaction, especially the way Gaara had been on this trip. The idea of Temari overwhelmed was ridiculous. There wasn't much evidence left of the numbers of attackers, most of it was strewed and half buried and unrecognizable.
Gaara stared through his older brother and simply looked away.
"If you got it, let's go. This place is boring."
The puppeteer all but snatched his badly injured sister from Gaara's feet, cradling her against him with a care he'd have denied to anyone to see, and didn't like showing in front of the monster. He checked her as gently as possible and realized he would have to move as fast as he was capable of. There was no time to be lost.
For the first time, ever, he did not look back to see if Sunagakure's super weapon was following. A large part of him hoped Gaara didn't, and the rest was contemplating, seriously for perhaps the first time, his chances of ever taking on the vessel of Shukaku.
~ * ~
Kankurou made it just barely in time. The medic-nins worked over Temari, exerting their full energies, for two hours.
In the end she escaped death by a hair and serious permanent injury by a breath.
She recovered slowly in the hospital. Kankurou delivered the scroll and spent the rest of his time either in her room or outside it.
Their father, the Kazekage, made one ten second appearance, received a report on her condition, looked at her for less than half the time, and left, mentioning that the mission must be counted a success even if his young team were substandard in their performance.
Gaara had returned, it was generally agreed because he had nowhere else to go.
In the hour before predawn, when the hospital was silent and still and even Kankurou was drowsing in his chair, the youngest child of the Kazekage walked into the building unchallenged, as he generally went anywhere he wanted to go.
He entered his sister's room silently, gauging Kankurou's sleep sufficient, or not caring.
He stood over the bed staring down at Temari for an hour.
Neither of his siblings realized how often he visited them as they slept. It had begun as a habit of hatred, watching them sleep, contemplating murder, brooding over the difference in fate that had given them the ability to sleep, the ability to be human, and not to be shunned by the rest of the human population. But at some point, curiosity had mingled with the hate and in the end, he wasn't sure any more why he did it. Or when he'd started talking to them as they slept. He only knew they never heard him, or else he would have stopped.
If he had realized Temari's exhaustion had been partially eased and her sedatives were wearing off, he might have remained silent. But he had no experience of such things.
~ * ~
"If mother had been like you... I would never have been born." Gaara's voice was soft, the timbre almost that of a sleepwalker. "If mother had been as strong as you... she'd never have bent to father's will. If there had been a child anyway, she'd never have let them take her life for the ceremony. If she had been like you."
"Why... wasn't she like you?"
"I wish..."
- - - - - - -