Book One- The Enemy

Chapter 18

Four months ago

The faint beep from the monitors sitting around her seemed distant, the air stale with the smell of medical supplies and unscented cleaners, she missed the fresh arid desert air. Her hand resting firmly on her brothers, his only motion a faint rise and fall on his chest.

Temari watched the motion as if it would stop if she looked away, it would have been day three, maybe four she couldn't quite remember how long she'd been sitting there. She recalled seeing Kankuro a while ago, maybe days she didn't remember, he was passed out asleep and didn't even know she had come in to sleep on the couch in the room that night until the next morning, where she returned to Gaara's side before Kankuro woke. Nurses would stop in on occasion and attend to Gaara and her injures as she refused to leave either of her sibling's sides since arriving in Suna, maybe it was five days?

"Temari?" The sudden sound only prompted her to grip the hand tighter, but she refused to move to Kankuro's voice. While Gaara laid in the hospital seemingly in a coma as the doctor said, Kankuro had broken his arm and suffered from poisoning that was healed on the second, maybe third day she forgot what day it was again. Her injures were far fewer, bruises and scratches nothing remotely as horrid as what her brothers had faced, she would have traded a spot with either if she had been given the choice. She promised to protect them, and she had failed.

"Come on let's get you up" Kankuro's touch to her shoulder breathed life into her, that being her hand resting in her lap to quickly grab his wrist pulling him away on instinct. Her eyes slowly pulled away from Gaara's chest, hidden under thin blankets, and turned to Kankuro attempting to narrow but instead shut them and she slowly dropped her arm down releasing him and stared down into the floor. Kankuro turned to his sleeping brother then back down to his sister with a sigh and kneeled beside her "Come on Mari he'll be fine, you heard the doctor, Gaara just suffered a lot of chakra loss he needs time to regain his strength" Temari didn't respond but didn't fight as he pulled her hand from Gaara's to help her stand "let's get you something to eat how about it? Nurses should be by to take care of him in a bit" her head shook, and her gaze turned back to her sleeping brother "Oh no you don't I'm not letting you be sad anymore" Kankuro hooked his arm around hers, like she used to do when they were kids, and pulled her back "Come on"

"Let me go" she muttered pulling feebly back, but his arm was firmly around hers leading her to the door.

"It's been four days come on you're starting to stink up the place" Kankuro grinned when she turned a weak glare at him, taunting her always worked "Eat something and I'll let you come back ok?"

"It's my fault, if I just" she muttered weakly, leaning against him as he walked them out of the room into the deserted halls.

"Oh no you don't no more blaming yourself, trust me when I tell you this later, you'll wanna slap yourself for saying it" he tightened his arm for a moment as if to stir her, succeeding in getting a small huff of frustration.

"But it is Kankuro" her voice above a whisper now as she glanced up at his bare face, no paint for once "If I'd been closer to Suna when it happened" he cut her off

"If you'd been closer, you might have ended up like me, at least in the front you had units to bring with you" he scolded unintentionally making her eyes downcast, grief wasn't a good look for her, his face softened and he grinned weakly attempting to cheer her up "Come on you still got to beat someone's ass, doesn't that make you feel better?"

"He was dead in my arms, he wasn't moving" she murmured lost in her own thoughts, her hands gripping his arm as she tried to stop her sudden shuddering.