Takasaki Again

"He really is important to me." Temari nodded.

She put down her chopsticks and stood. "Father, one day, I'll become stronger than a Tailed Beast."

Temari's eyes flickered. "Then I can become Sunagakure's human military force, and my little brother will finally be able to sleep in peace."

With that,

Temari turned and headed upstairs to her room.

Since they still hadn't managed to find out anything about Takasaki, she needed to go over the information about him in her diary again.

She hadn't gotten much sleep last night.

That was because the second entry in Takasaki's Diary had appeared.

Her name hadn't been mentioned, so she hadn't received another reward.

That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that she'd realized something even more important: she wasn't the only one with a diary.

At least one other girl, Hinata, had one too.

And by deliberately approaching Takasaki, Hinata had successfully gotten him to mention her by name many times in his diary, earning herself an extra reward.

Ten percent more stamina.

If she could increase her stamina by that much, then even after running low on chakra, she'd still be able to use Wind Release a few more times, greatly increasing her combat strength.

If she could keep earning rewards, then one day, she'd be stronger than a Tailed Beast!

The catch was that she needed to find out exactly where Takasaki was so she could get close to him and make him write her name in his diary a few more times.

"Where the hell is Takasaki?"

"And that girl Hinata—she's really cunning."

Temari locked the door, drew the curtains, and took the diary out of her mental space to read through it again.

To be honest,

Whenever Temari read the flippant things Takasaki had written in his diary, she still felt a flicker of anger.

Takasaki had written that he wanted to marry her someday.

What gave him the right?

She was the daughter of the Kazekage of the Land of Wind, with a noble status. She was still a virgin, had never dated anyone, and had never even held another boy's hand. She still had her first kiss, too.

Given her status, she could be matched with a marriage partner from any family in the Five Great Nations.

But judging by the contents of Takasaki's diary, he was just a dead-last student at some Ninja Academy. What right did he have to marry her?

Whenever she remembered Takasaki writing that he wanted to marry her, she felt like beating him to a pulp.

And Takasaki was a total womanizer, too!

He didn't just have his eye on her; he was after plenty of other girls as well.

He really had some nerve.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door. Kankuro's voice followed. "Temari, don't you need to make Gaara a bento and take it to the training room? After all, last time he lost control of the Tailed Beast inside him and killed someone in the street, you were the one who brought him back to his senses. He seems to like you."

"You make Gaara's bento. You can take it to him later."

"What about my ninjutsu training?"

"Another time. I'm tired," Temari replied casually.

"Not even training ninjutsu with me..." Kankuro murmured outside the door.

Temari didn't answer.

She wasn't in the mood to do anything else.

Making Gaara a bento, taking it to him, and deliberately chatting with him were all just ways of trying to strengthen their bond, so that if Shukaku took control of Gaara and caused a rampage, she could use their emotional connection to bring him back to his senses.

She knew Gaara had grown somewhat dependent on her.

But most of her affection for Gaara was an act.

After all, it was very hard for her to truly care for the little brother who had killed their mother.

Training ninjutsu with Kankuro was one way to improve her strength.

But if the diary could make her stronger quickly, she'd have enough power to suppress Shukaku inside Gaara without relying on emotional appeals.

And no matter how fast training with Kankuro made her stronger, could it really compare to the rewards she could get from the diary?

Just the ten percent increase in chakra from Takasaki's first diary entry would take at least three years of training with Kankuro to achieve.

So,

right now,

rather than do anything else, Temari would rather spend her time studying Takasaki's diary and figuring out where he was.

She would've liked someone to help her, but she couldn't let anyone find out about the diary. Otherwise, she'd die. So she had to investigate it by herself.

Outside her room, Kankuro didn't leave. He curled his fingers and gently tapped on Temari's door twice.

Before he could say anything,

Temari's impatient voice came from inside. "Stop making noise!"

Kankuro suddenly felt a little hurt.

He knew his sister.

Temari was tough and hot-tempered around other people, but with him, she held back and was very tolerant.

She was the same way with Gaara.

Yet these past few days, Kankuro could clearly feel that Temari wasn't as attentive to him.

It was as if her mind was somewhere else.

"Have I been acting badly these past few days and made you mad? Or did I upset you at dinner just now when I said you'd never become a ninja stronger than a Tailed Beast?" Kankuro murmured outside the door.

Temari didn't answer. She just thought Kankuro was a real pain.

It wasn't until Kankuro sighed and called out, "Sister," that she relented.

That one word seemed to strike a tender place in Temari's heart. She closed the diary. "All right, all right. Don't fuss. Be good and go do your own thing. I'm not mad at you."

"That's a relief." Kankuro felt a little better.

He was just about to leave when Temari suddenly called after him. "If Father hears anything about Takasaki, tell me right away."

Takasaki!

Takasaki again!

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