Whispering Bells

A Rooftop Proposal

The men exited the room and left Temari standing in front of the Hokage. She was doing her best to maintain her composure, but Tsunade could see that the girl was breaking. Tsunade put her hand on her shoulder.

"Temari. Sit down. I'll get you glass of water." She walked over and filled a glass from the pitcher on her side table. She put the glass down in front of her. Temari slumped down into the chair. Tsunade sat down beside her.

"I want to hear your side of the story. You've been an ally to our village from some time now, so I know you would not do something like that unprovoked. What did this man do?"

Temari continued looking straight ahead. It was as if she was willing the dam in her eyes not to burst. Why was she so emotional? She had dealt with the situation. The man grinding on her and grabbing her body had felt disgusting, but what was worse, was that it had been encouraged by her own father. How could he do this to her? His own child? He had put that message out there. She had been lucky this time, who knows what would happen the next time? What if a group attacked her instead of an individual? The thought pushed her over the edge. The tears started flowing freely from her eyes. She quickly covered them with her hands.

Tsunade looked at the girl worried. She was showing all the signs that she had been assaulted. What had happened this afternoon? She cracked her knuckles in anger at the thought. Well one thing was for sure, she was going to find out, and if it was as she suspected, there would be hell to pay. That kind of behaviour was not acceptable in her village. Not with her as Hokage.

"I hate him...." Temari sobbed. "I hate my father so much. How could he do this to me?"

Tsunade looked up startled. "What? Rasa the fourth Kazekage? What does he have to do with this?"

Temari looked up at the Hokage. She was a woman who she had admired for a long time. The stories of her during the Shinobi World Wars were the things of legends. She had so few women role models in her own life, she always enjoyed any interaction she could have with Lady Tsunade. And now she was here blubbering in front of her like a child. She had to get herself together. She wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"Nothing. I'm sorry I mentioned it" Temari said quietly.

Tsunade frowned. The girl was keeping herself from opening up, and now there was the added twist of her father. She shuddered. Rasa had never given her a good feeling the few times she had met him. What did he do to get his own daughter in this state?. She still needed to get down to the heart of the matter of what happened this afternoon, and why there was a member of the Inuzuka clan in the hospital with his arm practically ripped off.

"Temari. I'm sorry to push you, but I need to know what happened. If I don't have any answers, this simply looks like an attack of the Sand Village on the Leaf. I need answers before the whole thing escalates out of control. I know you don't want that. How about we just start from the beginning." She gave a slight squeeze to her shoulder. "You can trust me Temari. Where were you walking to?"

"I was heading to your office to deliver the flowers you requested from my village. I turned from the main road to an alleyway that is near that Bakery near the main square as a shortcut to your office. "

"Go on"

"A man grabbed me and pushed me against a wall and he...ahh.."

"It's ok Temari, continue. Don't feel embarrassed."

"He grabbed my hips and pushed himself hard against me with his..." Temari flushed red. "Umm...well you know what I mean. Then he groped me a bit with his hand. He opened up his stance slightly, and that's when I got my arm free and countered by pulling and attacking his arm. He screamed, and then the ANBU were there. That's it. That's the whole story."