Whispering Bells

The Argument

Temari set down the delicately painted rose teacup in front of her. The warm orange pekoe tea was exactly what she needed this early morning before her mission. Lady Tsunade was kind enough to call her over this morning. Last night, the Hokage had not initially been receptive the idea of her going with Shikamaru, but he had done an excellent job of convincing her on how the sand jounin's skill would be an asset to the mission. Lady Tsunade was gazing out the window lost in thought. The way her arms were crossed and her frown was not giving Temari confidence. She did not want her to change her mind.

"Lady Tsunade. I know you're apprehensive about sending me. But besides what Shikamaru said, I think the most important thing I can say to you is that my brother is also a Jinchuriki. He's a target as much as Naruto is. And I swear on my life, I will do everything in my power to protect him. If I can do that through this mission, I need to do it. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to him that I could have helped to prevent."

A wave of sadness passed over Lady Tsunade's eyes. She understood more than words could say. Not a day passed by when she didn't think of Nawaki's smiling face.

"You have my blessing to go. I have sent word to Gaara. If he calls you back or disagrees to this mission, I will send word, and you are to turn back at once." She looked at the young woman before her. She reminded her of herself in so many ways. Headstrong, determined and a bit of a temper to boot. She was glad the young woman had confided in her. Perhaps she could help guide her life path, to one that was not so difficult as her own had been. She looked down and saw that Jiraiya was speaking to Shikamaru down on the street. It appeared that he was giving his own advice to the young man.

"Temari, can I impart some advice to you before you go? Not particularly about the mission but more on life."

Temari looked up surprised. "Oh course Lady Tsunade. I would be honoured."

"Don't follow my path...it doesn't." Tsunade stopped. "It doesn't lead to happiness. I look at my life, I feel I ended up jaded, full of vices and cynical." She gazed at Jiraiya speaking down in the courtyard. There was a peace and happiness about him, that she had never yet achieved. He was always the optimist, while she had always been pessimistic.

"Have faith in people. Look at what's in their hearts, and not what comes out of their mouths. Shikamaru, he can be infuriating at times. Stubborn, a tad apathetic, old fashioned in his views on men and women, but also fiercely loyal. Moral. He thinks for himself. You know, Iruka told me that he was the one person in this village that showed Naruto kindness when he was a child. I'm sure you can relate better than others, on how people treated Gaara when he was young."

Temari nodded. It was true, Gaara had sought friendship only to be shunned over and over. It nearly destroyed him. She didn't know this fact about Shikamaru.

"Just keep that in mind when he infuriates you, which I am sure will happen. Take the glass half full approach. It will serve you better in life." She looked wistfully at Jiraiya. "I wish I had treated certain people differently in my life and made different choices." She came from behind her desk and gave Temari a hug. "Watch each others backs. I want to see you both back here safely."

"I will Hokage-sama" She looked at Lady Tsunade thoughtfully. She knew the two saanin were close, but she now saw the connection between them was much deeper. "You know, your story is still being written. It is not complete."

Tsunade smiled sadly. "We will see....we will see."

***

"Did you catch all of that. This is valuable information I'm giving you" Jiraiya stated.

"Yes, thank-you Master Jiraiya. You know more about the Hidden Rain village than anyone. Although, I don't think we can take the same approach into entering the hidden rain. I don't have a frog contract that I could utilize. But given that, I think we could enter a little more easily. I'm not a six foot four legendary saanin and author that the whole world seems to know about."