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sillysnowden11 · 3 months

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A short story of Baki and Temari’s relationship. Just my thoughts and opinions of how he always saw her. You can’t deny he was more of a father to the kids than Rasa at some point.

He’s a fortress to his emotions, what little he ever shows hold no promise of comfort. A stern professional man, a fearless shinobi of the Sand, one eye narrowed and remaining that way for years to come. Slowly he cracks though, over the years he bends, his willpower to remain cold and stoic become harder to control when he is tasked with the reality of his duty to his village, the duty to his Kazekage, the duty to protect one very important thing.

A future.

From the day she is born he understands what his future will be. He is sworn into the family when he is noticed for his fierce loyalty to Rasa, he is trusted. Karura never finds out the secret her husband entrusts to one of his shinobi, though she guesses early on that Baki is there as her protection when she is out one day, a delicate hand over the large swell of her belly, her first child to be born within the month. The Kazekage’s first heir.

Baki at first follows her at a distance, keeping an eye on Lady Karura as she picked groceries for dinner, but she was once a kunoichi and was no fool. She knew he was there. The task given was to protect her, but Rasa never mentioned the cunning woman would end up having him carry her bags full of fresh food while she hummed some village gossip to him as if he was a friend.

Baki says nothing, but does as she asks the Lady of the clan a elegant and beautiful reminder of Rasa greatest treasure, his wife, his future, his strength all packed into a woman who’s kind smile tricks Baki into helping with chores after. He doesn’t complain or say anything when her brother makes a remark, he was following his orders. Rasa holds back laughter though when Baki reports back to him the tasks he had to help her with for the day. He had been sneakily tricked, but he remains as unmoved as a mountain, though embarrassed slightly by his Kazekage’s amusement. He continues to help where he can, never complaining, but seeing why the leader of the village treasured the woman so much.

She was a bright light in the dark.

The day she is born is a day full of confusion for Baki. From the stoic, stern, and great leader Rasa had been, to a man barely standing upright outside the room no one would let him in, his wife in labor, in pain, and Rasa isn’t faring well. Hours pass and despite his protest and threats Chiyo refuses to allow Rasa entry. Baki stands down the hall, awaiting his order, but never gets one. Watching the Kazekage from a distance, a man, similar to his wife, her twin brother Yashamaru, waits on the opposite wall, just as shaken up as their village leader. Slowly Baki begins to worry along with them, worry for the family he protects.

They wait, a day passes and things slow down. Baki continued to be unmoved from his spot, even when Rasa disappears behind the door, hours pass and he still waits, hearing cries here and there, cries of a child brought into this world, cries from the child he will one day protect. It’s when Rasa leaves he is tasked to remain by the door protecting the treasures Rasa holds dear.

His wife.

His daughter.

When he sees her for the first time, she is small, able to fit easily in his arms when Karura calls him in to meet her. Surprised as he is, he obeys and looks down to her for the first time. He’s never held a child before, let alone the princess of Suna. Karura trusts him to hold the future in his hands, a tuff of sandy hair on top of her head and teal eyes blinking blindly up at him, she cooes for a moment before the cry escapes her strong lungs, shattering his hearing momentarily.

A loud child he will one day protect.

He watches her from a distance over the next eight years, her silent protector. From the birth of one brother and then another to the loss of her mother and the lose of her uncle. He knows she loses her father before his own death truely finds him, lost the day Gaara was born. Yet she remains as bright as the desert sun, fierce, protective, independent. She holds the hand of one brother while watching the other from a distance, until a cloud envelopes their village.

The darkest time in Suna’s history.

The day Shukaku is released.

His first student accompanies him at the ripe age of nine, the Kazekages daughter, the spitfire of the sibilings he was entrusted to protect with his life. She was no longer able to fit into his hand, she stood on her own now, with something to prove. He’s trained genin before, lost them on missions and in war as well, but not her, no she fears nothing.

Not death, not any man, not any enemy.

She is fearless.

Temari never changes her scowl around him, her own bright eyes dimmed into a cold vengeful glare. She seems annoyed, irritated by lives mishaps, by him when he tells her to do something during training. She follows his orders, not as a sensei, but as a subordinate with no other choice unless she wants a punishment for her disobedience.

She’s brash, angry, and cruel yet he sees, on the rare moment when she’s alone, how her gaze softly stares off into the desert longing for something. She’s emotionless in her stare, quiet, the rolling hills of sand a comfort to her, until he is spotted observing her and she returns. The blazing sun of the Sand village, the teals glazed over in a dark glare sent his way and he wants to speak, but doesn’t. She no longer reminds him of the kind woman who he watched over before her death. She changes into a warrior, as unmoving and cold as he was.

He faintly sees the flash of fear in her eyes when her youngest brother turns, the beast living inside of him released into the village a year after her uncle had passed. He doesn’t hesitate to lean down and grab her around the waist and jump off the ground to avoid the one striped tail swiping over the roof tops. She shouts, but he isn’t listening, goal set to take her as far away to safely as he can. Once they reach the high wall of the village, they get a far off look of Shukaku, his screech echoing into the sand around them. He doesn’t realize she’s shaking in his grasp until after the beast is settled, his attention set on Rasa as he finally enters the battle to subdue the desert’s demon, to stop the son he created.

She’s panting, gripping her chest and fighting back tears and when he finally looks down to her he notices the way she grips his sleeve tightly, holding onto him for life it seems. He doesn’t speak and doesn’t fight her when she turns to hide her face into his vest, showing weakness, showing her fear. His hand hesitates before placing it carefully onto her back, his attention pulled away from the mayhem to her as she murmurs into his vest, incoherent words spoken past her crying. The minutes that pass, the hour before all it silenced, he allows her to hide, to comfort her, she’s only ten.

They don’t speak about it, ever, he simply tells her to wipe her eyes and stand tall. He feels hopeless to help her, never feeling such a way, yet when he gives his order she obeys her expression shifting to the one he’s seems to many times before. When they regroup, Rasa is waiting for them, Kankuro at his side holding his father’s robe until he spots his sister. The two rush to one another, Temari quick to check him for any injuries, while he shaking his head repeatedly telling her he’s fine. Baki watches and finds that she is the one to protect him.

Rasa exchanges a look with Baki, it’s silent and longer than he expects and looking from him to his children he turned and begins to walk away from them. Kankuro looks back at him, to his father, but his sisters grip on his arm doesn’t let him follow. Baki calls out their names and turns to walk in the opposite direction, the children follow.

A few months later he stands, arms crossed eyes shifting from one swift position to the next as Temari practices with her handmade tessen for the first time. The weight of the weapon and size perfectly balanced to her, though to him she still seems to be struggling to move as swiftly as he wants her too. When he says something she returns him with that glare again, challenging him, he wins and she continues training with a pout the rest of the day. Inside he knows how strong she will be some day.

Her attitude is sour and hard to swallow if one didn’t know her better, but he knew her. She’s sarcastic and mean, but like a breeze he brushes away her jabs and continues on as if she says nothing. He’s aware that she hates him in a way, yet she is never late and always bows before and after training no matter her mood. He teaches her well and works her until she drops, but she’s never down for long always back on her feet before he’s done pointing out her flaws. If anything he is more impressed with her than any other shinobi he’s ever seen.

Returning home after a mission a year later, they are interrupted by a sandstorm, seeking shelter in a near by gorge until it passes. Their team consisting of her and two other genin from her year, young boys who watch her warily, at twelve she’s already earned a reputation among the other shinobi, some good some bad. Baki doesn’t say anything, but he can tell they are whispering about her. She doesn’t acknowledge them, sitting a few feet from Baki’s side, ignoring the gossip she knows that they are talking about her.

It’s when the mention of her brother that she stirs, not about Kankuro, but Gaara. Baki barely retrains her, the small cave in the wall they had used as shelter filled with her bitter words, threats, and shouts. One of the boys holding his broken nose and cowering behind his comrade, both to stunned to speak at the sudden outburst. She never apologizes and Baki never tells her to, she doesn’t work with those boys ever again.

So he makes a decision.

A month later he welcomes her brother to the team, his face painted in royal purple and puppet wrapped behind his back, trained by a village master. Baki still spends his days separating the bickering siblings from fighting, but he never has to deal with another broken nose again. She’s much calmer now, aside from the annoying looks she gives her brother she seems more at ease knowing he’s by her side rather than alone in the village. Baki makes sure to never have them on separate missions after that and spends the next two years with them at his sides. He feels a sense of pride with then, they are what he was always meant to protect.

However, one was still missing.

Baki can see her hesitation when Gaara joins the team, Kankuro as well. The two are wary of him, but so is Baki. His mere presence is filled with a sinister air, any wrong slip or something spoken to loud turns the cold blue gaze towards them, they don’t trust him and neither does he them. Temari does her best to keep Kankuro from saying anything to loud and she’s closer to Baki’s side now when Gaara is near them. He never mentions it and silently allows her to have her caution seen by only him, yet in battle she is far braver than any of them. First to strike when she sees her opening and first to take her enemy down with any means necessary. He takes pride in her accomplishments, but only praises her with criticism instead of words of encouragement.

Yet they manage to work alongside each other, each day a blessing when they remain alive.

She loses, once, than twice. Beaten by their enemy the Leaf. The mountain she had climbed to achieve crumbles under her and she’s stunned for weeks at what had occurred. A father lost, brothers hurt, and despite her own feelings towards it all she remains strong for all of them. She grows, she changes, she becomes a woman feared and loved. He sees Karura in her, just a little, each day a little more.

She fights in a war, she protects her own, she falls in love.

He sees it all.

He watches her twenty five years after her birth, standing at the gates of Suna, a man from the Leaf waiting for her, her soon to be husband. She turns back to Baki and he bites back the urge to speak, he can feel his throat tighten and pride swell in his chest. She has grown and he was no longer needed. She steps forward to him and put a hand to his shoulder, reminding him of a time he comforted her when she was younger.

“Wipe your eyes and stand tall”

He remembers her last words as she leaves.

He stands beside her brothers two years later, he feels uncharacteristically nervous and filled with anticipation at her return. He hasn’t seen her in a while and this was her first time back in Suna after getting married, after having her first child. He sees in the distance two forms walk over the dunes of the desert and doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he sees the same pair of bright teals wrapped in her arms, the eyes he’s protected for so long, the child he raised without knowing it. The future he protected passed down for her to carry on the promise.

To her son.

#reblog

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