Temari narrowed her eyes.
Her left arm was in a clean sling, a parting gift from Shizune. The Konoha escort had left her at the border of the Land of Fire two days ago. The journey alone across the desert had been... quiet.
They released me. Just like that.
Tsunade had given her a sealed scroll. "Go," she had said. No ceremony. A prisoner of war from an invading nation. She just let her go.
She remembered Naruto's voice, which stopped her as she was about to leave Konoha.
"Hey, Temari! Don't leave without this!"
He had tossed her a small bag. Inside were three military food bars and a scribbled note: "For the road. Don't starve!"
What an idiot.
She adjusted her backpack with her good arm. The movement pulled at the sling, and she felt a dull pang of pain.
The memory shifted. Naruto, smiling in the hospital room, after she had thrown the pillow at him.
"I'll bring Miso tomorrow!"
An absolute idiot. Did he really think I would stay there forever, eating ramen with him?
One last memory. The clearest one. Naruto, serious, in the hallway.
"You're going to be a great Kazekage. Believe it!"
Idiot. What does he know? Kazekage...
She reached the main gate.
The two Suna guards watching the makeshift entrance saw her. Their faces showed no relief. They showed pure shock.
"Halt! Who...?" one stammered, raising his spear with trembling hands.
The other narrowed his eyes. "It can't be. Is... is that her? Temari sama!"
The first guard lowered his spear. "Impossible! The reports said... captured! Or dead!"
"It's her! Look at the fan on her back!" the second one shouted. He turned and ran toward the guard post. "Send word to the council! She's alive! She was reported dead in Konoha!"
Temari approached. "I'm not dead. And I'm not a prisoner." Her voice came out rougher than she intended, cracked from the desert dust.
The first guard, a kid who couldn't have been more than eighteen, looked at her with a mix of awe and fear. "But... the invasion. We heard... we heard Konoha annihilated us. That the Kazekage..."
"The Kazekage has fallen," Temari said sharply.
"Then... who's in charge?" the guard asked.
A tall, robed figure emerged from the entrance tunnel. Baki. His face, visible above his mask, was expressionless. Professional relief, but no warmth.
"Temari sama."
It was a formal greeting.
"Baki sensei."
"So the reports from Konoha were true. You returned." Baki looked her up and down, stopping at the white Konoha sling. "You're injured."
"I'll survive. Konoha released me. I bring a direct message from the Hokage Tsunade."
The name seemed to hit Baki. "Tsunade? The Sannin?"
"The Hokage Tsunade," Temari corrected.
Baki nodded curtly. "The council is waiting for you. It's been... chaos since Kankuro returned."
"Gaara?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"He's in the infirmary. Unconscious. Kankuro brought him back barely alive." Baki's voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"I see."
"Don't expect a warm welcome, Temari."
"I wasn't expecting one."
Baki turned. "Follow me. The council has been meeting almost nonstop. They're looking for someone to blame."
They began to walk.
"Blame?" Temari said.
"The village is paralyzed," Baki said, not looking at her. "We lost many jonin. We lost the Kazekage. We lost our only alliance."
"We lost the Kazekage before the invasion, sensei," Temari replied, her voice low. "Or did no one here realize that?"
Baki stopped for a second. He glanced at her sideways. "The council will judge the details of your actions in Konoha. And Kankuro's."
"Judge us?"
Baki resumed walking. "Your... failure... has been costly for the village."
Temari tensed. The word hit her hard. Failure.
"My 'failure' was following the Kazekage's orders, sensei."
"The Kazekage sama has fallen," Baki repeated, his voice harsh. "Orochimaru betrayed us. Kankuro returned with Gaara unconscious. The village is on the brink of collapse. The council will judge the details of your actions in Konoha."
"And what is there to judge? I was defeated. I was captured."
"You were 'released'," Baki said, emphasizing the word. "That is what the council will find... problematic. Why would Konoha release the Kazekage's daughter after a failed invasion? What did you promise them?"
"I promised them nothing!" Temari snapped. "I bring their terms!"
"Then deliver them. Don't keep them waiting. As the daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, your lineage demands you show your face and answer for your team's failure."
Baki led her through the streets. They were silent. Empty. Windows were boarded up. The few people she saw (an old woman peering through a crack, a child hiding behind a water barrel) looked at her with fear, then looked away.
Temari saw Mrs. Chigusa's shop. "Chigusa's shop is closed. It never closes."
Baki didn't slow his pace. "Her son was on the invasion squad. He didn't come back."
Temari swallowed. Kenji. A clumsy kid who was always dropping his kunai. She knew him.
Failure.
Naruto was right. Gaara is broken... and so are we.
They reached the council building. Instead of going up to the main offices, Baki led her down, via rough steps carved into the rock.
The Suna council room was a cave. Literally. A dark space, dug out of the rock beneath the main building, damp and cold. The only furniture was a long stone table.
A group of elders in dusty robes was waiting for her.
And in a corner, kneeling on the stone floor, was Kankuro.
His head was bowed. His face paint was smeared, mixed with dirt and what looked like dried tears. His puppets were on the ground beside him, a mess. Karasu was in pieces. Kankuro looked more like a prisoner than a shinobi.
He didn't even look up when she entered.
"There she is!" said a councilor with a trembling face and small eyes, Ebizo. "The one who failed and was captured!"
Another, Yura, a man with a scar across his face, slammed a gnarled fist on the stone table. "You have failed! You and your siblings! The invasion planned for a year, ruined!"
"Look at her!" Ebizo shouted, pointing at the sling. "She's even wearing the enemy's bandages! What shame! What humiliation!"
"The three of you!" Yura continued, his voice booming in the small cave. "The elite! The Kazekage's children! Defeated by a group of Leaf genin!"
He turned to Kankuro. "And you! Puppet master! You were supposed to protect Gaara! You were supposed to control the weapon! And you ran away cowardly!"
"I didn't..." Kankuro whispered, not raising his head. "I didn't run."
"He saved Gaara!" Temari's voice cut through the air. "What was he supposed to do? Die there?"
"Yes!" Yura shouted. "If necessary! The plan was everything! Suna's honor was everything! And we lost it! Our alliance with the Sound... broken! Orochimaru used us and cast us aside!"
Ebizo moaned. "We lost everything! Our reputation! Our jonin! And Konoha crushed us! A humiliation!"
"We failed?"
Temari's voice was low, but everyone in the room heard it. Kankuro slowly raised his head.
Temari approached the table. Her clean Konoha sling was a silent mockery to them. She looked at them, one by one.
"We failed?" she repeated, her voice gaining strength. "I saw the 'Kazekage' give the signal. I saw Orochimaru wearing my father's face like a disgusting costume."
"Lies!" Ebizo shrieked. "Leaf propaganda! The Kazekage sama...!"
"The Kazekage sama was dead!" Temari shouted. "Dead before it started! That thing killed my father and replaced him, and you didn't even notice!"
"Impossible!" Yura said, though his conviction wavered.
"And I saw my brother!" Temari continued, gesturing vaguely toward the infirmary. "I saw Gaara... your 'perfect weapon'... be defeated."
"Impossible!" Ebizo shouted this time, getting to his feet. "Absurd! No one can beat Gaara! The Shukaku is invincible!"
Temari laughed. It was a cold, dry, joyless sound.
"Invincible? He was crushed."
"Lies!" Yura said. "By whom? By the Sannin Jiraiya? By Kakashi Hatake?"
"By a genin," Temari said. "A kid from Konoha. By himself."
"A genin!" Ebizo scoffed. "You're lying to save your skin! No genin could...!"
"His name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Temari yelled. "The Jinchuriki of the Kyubi!"
The room fell deathly silent. Ebizo sat down hard. Yura turned pale.
"The... the fox..." Yura whispered.
"Yes," Temari said. "The fox. Gaara unleashed the Shukaku. And that kid stopped him."
She leaned over the table, her green eyes shining in the gloom.
"And after all that... after Gaara tried to kill him half a dozen times... he spared his life."
"Spared... his life?" Ebizo murmured, incredulous. "Gaara's? After he released the Shukaku?"
"Yes. Do you know why? For strategy? To take him hostage? No."
Temari paused, letting the silence settle.
"Out of pity."
"Pity?" Yura sneered, regaining some of his composure. "We don't need the Leaf's pity! What an insult!"
"Well, you needed it!" Temari snapped. "Because if that kid had killed Gaara, Kankuro would have had nothing to bring back! And Konoha would have slaughtered every Suna ninja left in their village! I was there! I was defenseless! He spared my life too!"
She straightened up. "A thirteen year old boy had more compassion than this entire council."
"Insolent!" Yura shouted, leaping to his feet. "You're defending the enemy! You're contaminated by their propaganda! You've forgotten your loyalty!"
"YOU FAILED!"
Temari slammed her good hand on the table. The sound echoed in the cave, making old scrolls jump and dust rise.
Kankuro flinched violently in his corner. Baki, by the door, took an instinctive step back.
The room was in stunned silence. The councilors stared at her, mouths open.
"You followed a stupid snake because he promised you power!" Temari's voice was a controlled hiss, filled with a fury she didn't know she had.
"It was a necessary alliance!" Ebizo stammered. "Konoha was choking us economically!"
"So your solution was to trust an S class traitor who experiments on people!" Temari retorted. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! When did you ever think Orochimaru would keep his word?"
"He gave us his guarantee...!" Yura started.
"And he murdered our Kazekage!" Temari cut him off. "You allowed my father to be murdered and replaced without even noticing!"
"There was no way to know!" Yura shouted. "The deception was perfect!"
"Or you were too blind with greed to want to see!" Temari snapped. "You approved the plan! You sent your children, your ninja, to die in a stupid plan based on arrogance and desperation!"
She drew herself up, her gaze sweeping the room.
"I was there! I fought! Kankuro fought! Gaara fought! Where were you, elders? Hiding here, in the dust, praying Orochimaru wouldn't find you and kill you too!"
"How... how dare you... speak to the council like that!" Ebizo stammered. "We are your superiors! Baki! Control her! Arrest her for insubordination!"
Baki remained motionless, his face impassive. He did not intervene.
"Silence, Yura."
Councilor Chiyo's voice was the first to speak calmly. It was ancient, powerful, and it silenced the others. She was sitting at the far end, almost hidden in the shadows, but now her eyes glittered.
"Silence, Ebizo. Baki, wait outside."
Baki nodded once and left, closing the heavy stone door.
"Kankuro," Chiyo said.
"Obaa sama?" he whispered.
"You too. Go to the infirmary. Stay with your brother."
Kankuro struggled to his feet, gathered the broken pieces of Karasu, and left without a word.
The door closed, leaving Temari alone with the three elders. The air grew even quieter.
Chiyo looked at her brother, Ebizo, and at Yura.
"The girl is right."
"Sister!" Ebizo protested.
"We were fools," Chiyo continued, ignoring him. "Arrogant old fools. And our arrogance nearly destroyed the village. Ebizo. Be quiet."
Ebizo shut his mouth.
Chiyo turned slowly to Temari. Her gaze was sharp, calculating. "So, you witnessed it all. You saw Konoha's Jinchuriki. And you saw the new Hokage, Tsunade."
"Yes."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi died," Chiyo murmured. "So she took office. Tsunade... she's different. Much more dangerous."
"Now," Chiyo said, her voice turning official. "Let the messenger speak. What is Konoha's message, Temari? Why did they let you live? What are the terms of our surrender?"
Temari pulled the sealed scroll from her jacket. The Leaf seal. She unrolled it on the table.
"The new Hokage, Tsunade Senju, is not Hiruzen Sarutobi," Temari said, repeating the words she had rehearsed in the desert. "She is not soft. She is not sentimental. And she is much, much stronger than you remember."
She remembered Tsunade's youthful appearance. She decided to keep that information for herself.
"A gambler... a drunk! She can't be a leader!" Yura muttered.
"She is the leader," Temari said coldly. "And I saw her. She is no joke."
She continued. "The message is simple. Konoha knows we were manipulated by Orochimaru. They know our Kazekage was murdered and impersonated. They are willing to overlook this 'indiscretion'... for now."
Ebizo let out a shaky breath of relief, slumping in his chair. "Thank the spirits! Peace! We will have peace!"
"No," Temari said.
Ebizo looked at her, confused. "No?"
"We will not have peace. We will have an alliance."
Yura scoffed. "An alliance? Submit to them? Become their lap dogs? Never! After what they've done to us!"
"After what we did to them?" Temari retorted. "We invaded their village. We killed their ninja. We unleashed a tailed beast in their territory. And you're offended?"
"It's a trick!" Yura insisted. "They want us to lower our guard so they can finish us off!"
"No," Temari said. "They don't want to finish us off. They need us. And we need them. Konoha returned us. They want a new trade treaty. The terms are... harsh."
"Harsh how?" Ebizo asked, his panic returning.
"We will pay reparations for the damage to their gate and the stadium. All joint mission contracts will be revised. Konoha will get 20% of the rewards from A Rank and S Rank missions."
"That's robbery!" Yura yelled. "They're starving us! They're taking the food from our mouths!"
"No," Temari said. "They are controlling us. It's better than total destruction. And there's more."
"More?" Ebizo whimpered.
"They want our full cooperation in hunting Orochimaru."
Chiyo nodded. "That is reasonable. He is the common enemy."
"They want full access to all our intelligence reports on the Sound, past and present," Temari continued. "And if Orochimaru or his forces enter the Land of Wind, we must notify Konoha before acting."
"They want to control our military!" Yura exclaimed. "It's an occupation!"
"They want to make sure we aren't stupid enough to ally with him again!" Temari shouted, losing her patience. "They are giving us a way out, Yura! A way out we don't deserve!"
"And if we refuse?" Chiyo asked, her voice calm and steady.
Temari looked her straight in the eye.
"If we refuse," Temari said, her voice dropping to a deadly serious tone, "there will be no mercy next time. Next time, they won't send a kid to forgive our Jinchuriki. They will send the Hokage to wipe us off the map."
Panic. Pure and absolute panic. Ebizo began to tremble visibly.
"We can't accept this! It's a humiliation! The Hidden Sand Village does not kneel!" Yura shouted, though his voice was shaking.
"Shut up, Yura! Don't you see our position?" Ebizo wailed. "We don't have many jonin! We don't have a Kazekage! We have no money! Orochimaru could come back tomorrow to finish the job! We're finished! Lost!"
"No!" Yura yelled, his eyes wild. "We're not finished! We have the Kazekage! The Fifth Kazekage!"
Ebizo looked at him, confused. "What? The Fourth is...?"
"Gaara!" Yura said, as if it were the most obvious revelation. "He must decide! The Kazekage lineage! He is our weapon! He must make the decision!"
Ebizo clung desperately to the idea. "Yes! Yes, the Kazekage! Wake Gaara up! He is our weapon! He will lead us! He will crush the Hokage!"
Temari let them shout for a moment. Let their desperate, stupid hope fill the cave.
Then, she laughed again, the same bitter, dry sound.
"Gaara?"
Both elders looked at her.
"That's your plan? To use the boy you yourselves broke?"
"He is our ultimate weapon!" Yura insisted. "The Shukaku...!"
"Go to the infirmary!" Temari snapped. "Stop hiding down here and go see your 'weapon'! The doctors say his chakra is so damaged from releasing the Shukaku that they don't know if he will wake up," she continued, her voice relentless. "That is your weapon! A broken boy in a coma! And you want him to make the decision? You want him to fight Tsunade? She would kill him without breaking a sweat!"
The silence that followed was absolute. The hope had evaporated.
Temari moved to the center of the room. Her voice was calm, but filled with an authority she didn't have when she left.
"Suna cannot wait. Suna does not have a Kazekage. Suna does not have a weapon. Suna has no allies. We are alone and bleeding, and you are here arguing about honor."
She remembered Naruto's words in the hospital. 'You're going to be a great Kazekage. Believe it!'
Damn idiot... I don't want to be Kazekage. But I don't want to see my home turned to dust either. Someone has to do it.
She took a step forward. "You will no longer make the decisions."
"What?" Yura said, furious but drained of strength. "Insolent girl! We are the council!"
"And your decisions led us to this disaster!" Temari retorted. "You need someone who understands Konoha. Someone who understands the new Hokage."
She paused, looking at their defeated faces.
"And most importantly... you need someone who understands the boy who beat our 'perfect weapon'. Someone who understands... Naruto Uzumaki."
There was a long silence. Ebizo stared at the floor. Yura gritted his teeth, but said nothing.
Chiyo looked at Temari for what felt like an eternity.
"And who is that someone, girl?"
Temari lifted her chin. Her broken arm was proof of what she had been through.
"Me. I will take provisional control. I will lead the diplomatic negotiations. I will save this village."
*****
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