Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters.

Bath Time

or

How Kankuro got his Stripes

Kankuro stood in the bathroom pouting. After an hour of his mom chasing him through the house he had finally been cornered in the bathroom where his mom had striped him of all his clothing. He knew what his fate was…Bath Time. His mom sighed looking into the mirror as the tub filled with water. The counter was still cluttered with all the makeup she had used for her costume the previous night. She smiled as she remembered the costume ball. Her husband, the Kazekage, had been rather civil toward her throughout the entire night, and she found that she had enjoyed herself. It had actually been worth all the effort of putting on the costume. Now she stood there staring at the tube of maroon lipstick that she would probably never wear again, while her young son stood behind her wondering why his mom had been standing in front of the mirror for so long.

"Um, mom?" Kankuro asked trying to get her attention.

She looked at her son's reflection in the mirror, and then she smiled. Quick as a wink she grabbed the lipstick off the counter, and spun around to wrangle her son up in a one armed hug. "I have decided your punishment for making me run all about the house." She declared as she uncapped the lipstick. "Now hold still." At those words Kankuro started squirming like an eel, trying to fend off the lipstick that was heading toward his face. His attempts at defending himself were severely hindered by the fact that his mom had his arms pinned to his sides, so all he was left with was moving his face about in desperate attempts to avoid the lipstick. Instead this managed to get lipstick streaks all over his face.

After about two minutes of trying to get the lipstick on her son's lips, Kankuro's mom collapsed in a heap of giggles, releasing Kankuro in the process. Kankuro was none too happy with the situation, and decided to see why his mom was laughing so hard. He climbed up on to the sink to perch precariously on the edge in order to see himself in the mirror. When he managed to get a good view of himself with all the maroon streaks on his face and smeared around his mouth he broke out into a grin. I look like Baki! He thought as he appraised his appearance in the mirror. Baki was the Kazekage's right hand man and Kankuro had always looked up to the man.

Kankuro's mom by this point had recovered sufficiently enough to look at what Kankuro was doing. Her heart gave a start as she saw the precarious position that Kankuro was in, so that he could look in to the mirror. "Kankuro!" She shouted sweeping him off the sink counter. She gave him a quick fierce hug. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"Yes mom." Kankuro said in a muffled voice, as his face was being pushed in to his mother's shoulder.

His mom sighed, and said in a much calmer and gentler voice, "Alright then lets get you cleaned up before your dad gets home."

Kankuro writhed in his mom's arms shouting at the top of his lungs "NO!" He squirmed out of her gasp and ran to the door. He managed to unlock it and get it open before his mom had time enough to react. He was halfway down the hall before his mother's voice reverberated off the walls in a tremendous shout of, "KANKURO!" Soon she was following her son in, once again, in another chase around the house. Kankuro raced on ahead turning the last corner and opening the door to his destination, his sanctuary, his room.

Temari looked up from her drawings to find her younger brother, stark naked, with his face covered in streaks of maroon paint, grinning wildly. Temari sighed with all the distain an older sister could possibly hold over her siblings, and returned to drawing. Kankuro dashed over to his bed, and dove underneath it. The two sibling's mother stormed in to the room not a moment later and quickly determined where her wayward son had disappeared. She muscled him out from under the bed, slapped him once on his bare bottom for good measure, and carried him under one arm, kicking and screaming all the way back to the bathroom.

As she listened to the sounds of Kankuro's struggle all Temari thought was, Baka Kankuro!