The first thing to do was to stop dead. To freeze on the spot, disappear from reality and hope a predator will pass by and won't notice - one of the automatic reactions of the most ancient, reptilian brain. "Breathe, Temari," Ino's voice popped into her head. She took a deep breath. Tried to make exhale just as long. She saw Kankuro watching at the phone in her hand.

The phone! She mentally thanked her brother - if he hadn't cast that look, it would have taken her long to realize that a possible escape route in right there in her hand. What has Naruto said? To come up with at least three options? Her brain began to swirl about what she could do as Kankuro swagged to her.

Shall she run? Priceless seconds for this option were lost. The door was locked, and while she will fiddle with it... Should she negotiate? It's worth a try, but the hope is hard for it... Shout out loud? The apartment is on the corner of the building, the neighbors are away for the weekend. And not everyone would rush to help. What if...?

- Well, why don't you say hello, sis? Didn't I teach you manners? - It looked like the negotiation option had just fallen off. Temari can already feel his breath. He looked her in the eye. Good. Just as long as it works out. In any case, she has no intention to give up without a fight this time. If he even dares to you...

Kankuro ran his palm through her hair, and Temari shuddered. A familiar gesture that sent a wave of terror through her body. And, to her shame, desire. How foolish, how naive she had been to hope that all the familiar reactions would be forgotten. She suddenly remembered Naruto's words, "To me, you are a person who hasn't given up, who fights for herself. And I'm willing to help. But only if you learn to separate, to distinguish between the desire for sex and true intimacy."

***

What do I want? Is this my desire?

***

Thoughts raced through her head one after the other. It was as if Temari had been doubled, seeing herself from the outside and trying to analyze the situation. She came back to the present when Kankuro, surprised by the absent look, grabbed her arm:

- Hey, Temari! I'm talking to you! And you don't even deign to answer me?

- I-I have nothing to say to you. - God, how embarrassing - her voice faltered, giving away her fear. Though she knew Kankuro could feel it by the gut, just like a beast.

- Even...

- After what you did, I have no desire to talk to you at all. Nor do I want to see you! - Temari spat the words furiously in his face.

Kankuro looked slammed against the wall as if he darted his eyes up at her and opened his mouth.

- Pick up your jaw, brother, - she laughed at his impertinence as she saw the reaction.

But then a nasty smirk appeared on his face.

- I see... My little sis' all grown up now, - he pointedly glared over her curvaceous figure. It had noticeably changed in three years. - My baby sister has learned how to open her mouth. Did your hookups teach you how to use it properly, too?

Kankuro yanked her hands down roughly, trying to force Temari to her knees and snatching the smartphone from her palm. She moved a little lower on the wall, but stayed on her feet. Acting on instinct, Temari slammed the head into his solar plexus. Her brother let go of her hands, exhaling sharply, but still managed to grab the hem of her blouse. It tore - but she never minded, she was looking for something to defend herself with.

Rushing into the tiny kitchen, Temari opened the drawer, searching for a knife. When she found it, she turned around and saw her brother with a bat in his hand. How had she not noticed it?

- I decided to get my girlfriend acquainted with you. Looks like it was for a good reason. - He poked her in the chest with the wider end, softly, pushing her slightly toward the far wall of the room and the bed.

Temari breathed very often. She bent down, putting her free hand to her chest, and looked at her brother, frowning.

- Don't try to intimidate me. If you touch me - if you do anything at all - I'll go to the police. And the aunt won't let you off this time.

- Maybe. But it won't do you any good, will it? I'll be over with you anyway. So why don't we settle this quietly and peacefully, like a family? After all, you liked everything I did to you too. I remember your moans, Temari. I know they weren't painful ones at all.

- You don't understand - I'm gonna put you in jail!

- Looks like it scares you more than me. Besides, are you sure it's gonna happen? I've met many people over these years and some are quite helpful, too. How do you think I've found you?

It felt like a bucket of ice water - does he really have friends in the police? What is she gonna do then? She felt pain and hopelessness, the feeling that all her attempts to escape the nightmare were in vain.

Temari rushed to the window, flung it open, taking advantage of Kankuro's confusion and froze, undecided whether to scream for help or... She desperately wanted to throw herself down, just to feel for a moment the state of flight and freedom that she had missed the second she saw him in the same window frame.

"You are a person who has not given up, who fights for herself," the memory came back to her, and she screamed as hard as she could:

- Help me! Help! - Feeling Kankuro's hands pulling her away, pushing her onto the bed, and slamming the window shut.

- You stupid bitch! - He didn't get it - now she finally cared about what was going to happen to her. Now she'd rather jump out the window than be pliant and spread her legs in front of this bastard. She had chosen to fight.

Temari jumped up but was thrown back onto the bed immediately by the blow of the bat in her stomach.

- Whoa, easy. I don't want to ruin your adorable body with bruises. Yet.

- Shut up, - she tried to get up, but he poked the bat into the solar plexus, causing her to collapse again.

- There you go, you look great up there, sis. Right where your real place is. - He didn't seem to take her attempts to resist seriously at all.

Temari remembered the knife she was still clutching and lunged at her brother intending to injure the hand in which he was holding the bat.

And she succeeded. The tip jabbed just above the wrist, between the bones, and blood gushed out from beneath it. But Kankuro only gripped the hilt harder, taking the knife out with his other hand and flinging it aside.

- You bitch! - He smacked her across the face, jumped up, grabbed her by the hair, and threw the head back. - Why the fuck are you keep resisting, huh? Don't you get it? No one can help you. Nobody needs you. Nobody but me, get it?

Temari could feel it, she could feel it in her whole body - he was wrong. Back then she felt lost and unwanted, empty. But not now. She has friends in and out of school. She has a job she likes. She has an apartment she rented on her own. She has made this world all by herself, with her own hands. She called out for help and took the actions that healed her soul. She accepted it, and allowed Ino and Naruto to show her - it is possible to change everything. Their help was gentle, careful and at the same time focused, confident in her ability to get out. They showed her she can. To learn, to work, to love. To live.

She was about to hit him again when the doorbell rang. Kankuro covered her mouth with the palm.

- Who is it? - Kankuro shouted.

- Delivery! - Temari tried to twist away, but her brother pinned her to the bed with his whole body. He reached under her skirt, pulling down her panties and shoving them in her mouth.

- Wait a minute! - Kankuro dragged her to a chair, quickly tied her legs to it with a belt, tied her hands behind her with a towel, and went to open the door, putting the bat on the floor.

Temari desperately tried to get at least one hand out. She heard the click of the lock. She was startled by the silence that came up for a second on the threshold. And then she cried out a mumbled shriek as Kankuro flew into the room, hitting the wall of the bed. She took a few quick steps and saw the familiar face in the mop of blond hair bent over her.

- Wait. I'll deal with him first.

She didn't see Naruto for six months after their final session. When they met at last, he asked her, trying to figure out how was she. Finally, he asked her directly:

- Are you okay, Temari?

And he smiled happily when he heard a sincere answer:

- I am, Naruto.