A/n: You know…I usually take writing semi-seriosuly. I can honestly say that I tried being serious with this one….But I failed. I was just having a little bit of fun with what I have found to be a very intriguing pairing.
Disclaimer: I do not own this. Well…I own the story of course. Though nothing else beside that.
Kankuro lay on the hard metallic surface in the Sunagakure clinic. His body writhed in pain. He had been in this torture for two days. He howled at first, and then his howls died into small moans, now he barely made any noise. His eyes would no longer open; his soft brown hair was damp with his sweaty. Doctors and people from the village paced back and forth. Help from Konohagakure was on its way, but would they make it in time? Time was something was running deathly short for Kankuro.
His life was nearly at its end. His body began to barely be able to move on its own. His limbs convulsed with random seizures. The door swung open and a pink haired ninja rushed in and cleared the doctors out of the way. She felt his chest and held down his arm which had been taken with another sudden seizure. Kankuro turned his head to the side and coughed up a burbling fountain of blood onto the table.
Sakura began Tsunade's technique immediately after seeing that. She had little time, before he was gone completely. At this point he could still be saved. She prodded the wounds in his chest, causing them to reopen and bleed out. This would help her withdraw the poison easier. She ran her fingers above Kankuro's chest and pulled them back. She focused her charka on the poison. She continued to push and pull her hands. The poison began to withdraw from the body and into bubbled around her hands. She continued until poison no long flowed from the wounds. The body remained still. His body had stopped shaking, but not because his life had been taken. Kankuro remained silent and asleep. His forehead began to cool and he body began to stop sweating.
Sakura bowed to the officials and quickly hurried out of the clinic to rejoin the fight with her friends.
--
Kankuro listened to his breathing. It was like being in a cave near the sea and listening to the wind rush in from the entrance. He felt dark. Kankuro never considered that dark could even be a feeling. It was the only thing he felt, dark and warm. There was nothing else. He remembered feeling bad before this; however, he couldn't describe it at all. The pain from the poison was the worst pain he could remember.
His eyes ached as he opened them to the light. He looked around; he only saw one person there. Beside him sat a pink haired woman who looked filthy and bruised. He recognized her she was on the same team as that Naruto. He had never formally talked to her before.
She reached over and brushed her hand through his brown hair. The sweat had dried from it and it had regained its volume. He looked at her and said nothing. He could not find his voice. His mouth was dry and tasted as if her had licked hundreds of metal coins.
Sakura continued to stroke his hair and look down at him. He wondered why she did this, but it was…comforting. He never had anyone stay by his side before. Much less stroke his hair so lovingly. All this comfort coming from a person he barely knew.
"He-ey…" He managed to choke out suddenly. She smiled at him and stopped stroking his head.
"Hi. Good to see you're ok." Sakura said folding her hands in her lap. They were all alone in this room. She wondered if she should call someone to tell them that he's alright.
"Urgh..I still can't move." Kankuro said as he attempted it. He felt very exposed just laying there. His chest was bare and his skin was cold from not being under his jumpsuit.
"That should wear off. Maybe I should go get your siblings?" She asked him patting his arm.
"Don't bother." He laughed. "We aren't much for touchy-feely 'you just escaped death' moments."
Sakura looked away. She wondered why he said that, his siblings were worried for his safety. Then again, perhaps he was used to being alone like this. From what she knew he was never very social with his siblings.
"Well…I guess I'll just have to stay." Sakura said after a moment of silence. She barely knew this man, and they had been enemies once but she cared enough to not let him be lonely.
"You really don't have to…I'll be okay." He said avoiding her eyes. He was used to this, healing after missions by himself. If he wasn't by himself then Temari was there making his injury worse.
"I insist." Sakura said firmly.
They sat alone in silence for awhile before Sakura started stroking Kankuro's hair again subconsciously. His eyes looked up towards the feeling on his head.
"You have nice hair. It's very soft." Kankuro stared at her blankly, not sure what to say. "And have very nice green eyes." He continued to say nothing. "And look almost normal without your face paint."
"Almost normal?" He asked suddenly at the comment. His face paint was never meant to be normal; he wore it to be different and to sometimes scare small children. He always figured he would look completely plain and normal without it.
"No one's normal." She said simply. He let out a barely audible 'Oh' and continued to enjoy the feeling on his head.
Kankuro suddenly sat up and grabbed the sheet wrapped around his waist. Sakura stood up as well. Kankuro had been trying to sit up for several minutes, he was surprised at the sudden result. He rolled off the table and stood on his shakey legs. Kankuro was noticeably taller than Sakura. He wrapped the sheet around his waist and didn't know what to do next.
"I guess I should go get clothes." He said after a very awkward silence.
"…Wearing your sheet? I think I'll just go get them for you." Before Kankuro could object she left. He stood in the doorway watching her go. 'Curious girl.' He thought to himself.
-
Sakura wondered down the main street after asking several people where Kankuro lived. She was amazed at the amount of people who didn't know. Some thought he still lived in the royal palace, but she got told otherwise by another. She reached a strangely small house near the end of the main road. The house was small, but it had a garage that was nearly the whole houses' size
"I thought he would've had a bigger house." She said aloud as she pushed the front door open. The house was relatively empty, though amazingly clean. The door to the garage was open. Puppets and other parts were laying all over the floor and the tables inside. On his worktable lay a half finished puppet with its arms taken off.
"Yo." Sakura jumped as she set the puppet part back down on the table. She turned around and saw Kankuro leaning on the doorframe with his sheet wrapped around his waist.
"Don't tell me you walked here…" She laughed at the mental thought of seeing him strut down the street with nothing but a cloth around his waist.
"Yeah…" he sighed. "I got a few wolf whistles, molested by some old women, you know. That stuff." Sakura smiled as Kankuro walked up the stairs. She figured he would be putting on some clothing so she waited in the garage staring at the lifeless puppet.
Kankuro appeared beside her in his normal black jumpsuit.
"This ones going to be a original creation." He said running his fingers down its smooth wooden frame. "Not like these other ones. Sasori made most of them, or Chiyo."
"Puppets are so much like ninja." Sakura traced the carvings on the puppets face. She opened its mouth only to shut it again. "Very easily controlled." Kankuro shook his head and raised the puppet off the able with bluish charka strings that sprang from his fingers.
"It's true that puppets are easy to move, but people are very different." The strings disappeared and the puppet flopped back onto the table. "I've never controlled a person in my life."
Kankuro could not think of any other time he would've liked to be able to control a person. He'd like to keep this girl there with him forever. The puppet master was never very social with women, nor did they find his puppets as interesting as he did.
"Why do you wear that jumpsuit?" She asked suddenly. "Isn't it hot?" Kankuro was silent. This was an odd turn of events. Then he realized she must've been trying to change the subject.
"It's not so bad. Plus it's not a jumpsuit. Two pieces see?" He lifted the heavy sweat shirt up revealing his bandaged stomach. Sakura chuckled. She never thought Kankuro to be such a nice person, the first time they met she utterly loathed him for making fun of her. He always came off as more of bully.
"Weeelll!" He yawned as she stretched his hands up over his head. He placed his arm limply over her shoulder and ushered her towards the door. "Don't you have some sort of thanks for saving Gaara party to go to?" He asked with a sly smile on his face.
"You are trying to kick me out?" She placed her arm around the small of his back and roughly pulled him closer to her. Kankuro was mildly shocked by the action. Being around the socially aggressive Temari as often as he was he thought he would've been used to something like that. However, he didn't expect that out of Sakura. This proved he had not known her as well as he thought.
"No ma'am. Just enjoying putting my arm around my lifesaver." He put both hands on her shoulder and guided her in front of him gently. He grinned as he looked into her large glowing green eyes.
"I haven't thanked someone like this since I was like five…" He stuttered.
"But…Well…" He continued, Sakura grew uncomfortable and confused.
"You did save my life!" He wrapped both arms around her and hugged her tight. Sakura's feet were lifted off the ground as he stood up straight and dropped her back onto her feet. He backed away and bowed low to the ground.
"Thank you for saving my life, beautiful lady." Kankuro looked up for a moment and saw her smiling down at him. She reached over and ruffled his soft brown locks.
"You're very welcome fuzz head."