grief is a funny thing. baki's had his fair share of it, but nothing akin to what she's felt. maybe that's why it stuck with him after temari mentioned the significance of this date, maybe it was the compassion he thought was long buried. "lady nara, on behalf of the kazekage and the land of wind," the crinkle of paper and a flash of white petals, the faint smell of lilies in the air. "i would like to give our deepest sympathies."
july 15th: Shikaku's birthday!
YOSHINO. 愛
'Too young to be all by her lonesome', someone covertly used to whisper as they watched her clambering the dreadful, uphill path towards the graveyard. She was aware of it, and yet it bestowed her no comfort in being pitied, if only for her evident lack of companionship. It wasn't a mere partner she was lacking, but the supporting pillar that allowed her to grow into a woman and gifted her with the most joyful creature, her son.
And her son had eventually grown into a man himself, albeit the many burdens she shouldered for him to allow him room to grow and grow sharper. He was the Nara head now, and he had taken a marvellous young woman as his bride, tough like a tornado and soft like the spring breeze. And now, the man that was the closest to a fatherly figure the breath-taking Temari'd had was presenting her with a gift to alleviate her sorrow.
Yoshino broke into a gentle, misty smile while accepting Baki's gift. Unlike the whispers of the old people in the village, saddened by her solitude, Baki seemed to understand the void of losing someone so dear, so important to her. He knew she wasn't mourning her loneliness, she was grieving her dead husband, whose memory was still ever so fresh in her mind.
"My late husband loved white lillies," Yoshino bowed, "thank you, Baki-san, and thank Gaara-sama for her thoughtfulness. He held Gaara-sama in the highest regard, and I remember him saying you gave him quite a hard time during that unsavoury time. I am sure he is honoured to be remembered by such a powerful and loyal ninja such as yourself."