This is a one-shot inspired by my awesome friends- whom I consider family and prove that blood does not dictate bonds-, Dropkick Murphys because of their awesome song, and a whole bunch of angst in my life.

Enjoy~

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He'd never felt as if he'd actually had a family.

He had at one point been related to at least five other people he knew by blood. Three of them were dead now, but two of them were still alive, so he could kind of count that as a victory. But one of them was an overbearing bitch that didn't know when to shut up and the other had once been a bloodthirsty killing machine… so there wasn't much for him to scrounge up from that batch.

If he decided to try and enter either of his sibling's minds, he'd most probably find logical reasoning behind their actions. If he allowed himself to enter Temari's mindset, he may just begin to understand why it was that she always wanted to beat him up and why she always wanted to know wherever it was that he went. He'd figure out why it was that she never wanted him to go through with some of his less intelligent plans, although she was constantly running around on her own misadventures. And if he entered Gaara's mind, he may be able to understand why he was always so aloof, even though he seemed as if he wanted to get better. If he entered his brother's mind, he may even be able to have found a way to form an actual bond that went further than 'Please don't kill me, I promise I love you even when you're way too terrifying to ever properly love- okay, I'll be quiet now'.

(Out of his siblings, Kankuro loved Gaara more. He was his favorite little brother. And he sometimes felt bad when he admitted this to himself, but Temari was an unbearable bitch. She might be a good person at heart, but heart didn't matter when the mind was putrid as all hell.)

And if he thought about all of the sacrifices his Uncle Yashamaru and mother had made before they'd died, or all of the hard work his father had put in to making Suna a Hidden Village that could stand up to those that were much bigger, he would be able to feel some sort of something for them.

But his mother had been dead ever since he was- what? Threemaybe four years old? And Yashamaru had always taken care of Gaara, he'd never been a big part of either his or Temari's lives. They knew him, they hugged him whenever they saw him, and they called him Uncle Yashamaru as was expected of them. But he'd been Gaara's uncle. Temari and Kankuro were supposed to be raised as proper tools for their village. Yashamaru's job had been to make sure the demon inside of Gaara was always controlled so he could become the perfect weapon of mass destruction.

Even from birth, his and his brother's lives had been destined to be completely different. It was a shame, but it was a reality they would have to live with for the rest of their lives. They were never meant to have formed a bond closer than begrudgings respect.

He didn't even want to think about his father. Because for every good thing he'd ever done, there was an equally repulsive thing to bring him down. So instead of hating his father for every single crime he'd ever committed or defending him for all the hard work he'd put in for his Village, Kankuro just remained indifferent and shrugged whenever he was mentioned. Ignorance was bliss, after all. So what if he'd trapped a demon inside of Gaara's body? He'd also refused to allow a Clan of bandits to lay waste to the poorer sections of the Village and had saved a good hundred lives by increasing health care standards. The good with the bad… Or none at all.

What was he really supposed to feel? Rasa may have been his father by name, but even Baki Sensei had been more of a father figure to him. His mother was dead before his brain had been developed enough to properly remember her. And Yashamaru had been nice, but he'd never been impacting in his life.

Temari always acted like she'd lived such a horrible life; as if she'd gone through an unimaginable amount of hardships to keep her family life from completely fracturing. As the older sister, she acted as if she needed to keep her brothers together, as if it was her job to make sure they never got into trouble and always did as they needed to do.

As the middle child, Kankuro had never understood just why she'd thought such a thing. And he still didn't. He was his own person, his choices were his, his mistakes were his. They didn't fall on her. It sure as hell wasn't his job to keep their shitty family together; why did she think it was hers?

Gaara was much chiller; much too busy with bloodlust and death to even care about family. And that had been pretty okay- as long as he didn't try and kill Kankuro. He was always distant and kind of conceited, but he only ever ordered Kankuro around when shit needed to be done; not just because he didn't want to take out the trash like Temari always yelled at him for.

Family wasn't a concept he'd been able to grasp with his biological family. He loved them all, he'd protect Temari and Gaara until the very end… But those two weren't the people he wanted to spend all of his time with. And he'd honestly never thought he'd ever find anyone he'd ever want to be around for longer than a couple of hours; he just thought he was supposed to live the life of a loner. That had been the path set out for him; all he needed to do was walk it.

Sometimes, he wondered what his life would be like if he'd never met the Konoha Idiots… But those thoughts usually depressed him, so he mostly stayed far away from them.

"No, seriously, Ma was so pissed!"

"It's your fault for giving Akamaru alcohol, Kiba! Who in their right mind gives beer to a dog?"

"All of us, Ino! We all decided to give him the beer to see what happened!"

Softly, Kankuro chuckled at the slurred argument between Kiba and Ino. He was sat in between them and forced to put up with both of their violent motions whenever one of them got too heated. But he didn't mind, he had a beer in his hand and was entertained by the stories yelled. Besides, if he got annoyed, he could just stand up and go anywhere else in the apartment. He wasn't forced to sit in places he didn't want to be in when he was around these people.

The apartment was spacious and nice, big enough to fit all twelve teenagers without too much difficulty. Sure, Tenten and Neji were sandwiched together on one couch while they watched over their drunken teammate that had basically zero control over his arms and legs at this point, but it was hilarious to see, so Kankuro allowed it. And Chouji had kind of knocked one of the decorative vases inside of the place down and broken it when beer pong had gotten started between him, Ino, Sasuke, and Hinata (no matter what that Hyuga said, she could drink). And the keg that Naruto had brought in might have been a tad too big to fit through the door, but they'd improvised and the damages to the door frame had been minor, so everything was fine.

Besides, if anything bad happened, Gaara would just pay for all of the damages, glare at Kankuro as Temari scolded him, and everything would be fine. So, really, there was nothing wrong with the small party in the apartment he'd rented out for his diplomatic duties in Konoha.

"Truth or dare time!"

Naruto's sudden shout had him, Ino, and Kiba all hissing at him to stop being a moron. Then Shikamaru breathed out from his spot over by the kitchen's entrance, leaning against the wall in that 'I'm too cool for any of this' pose he tended to adopt, and told him, "We already played that once. The Hokage has forbidden it."

"But-"

"No buts, Naruto!" His pink haired teammate growled from the kitchen where Kankuro knew she'd been putting the moves on a red faced Hinata, "It's illegal for us."

If Kankuro was a betting man, he would bet that Hinata was currently in one of the biggest emotional confusions she would ever experience in her life. Because even though Sakura wasn't his type, he knew that she could be more than just convincing to the person she deemed worthy of her attention. And if Hinata was experiencing that… Well good luck to her…

"Then what drunken mishap are we supposed to get into now?" The blonde idiot whined loudly from behind Kankuro- and when the fuck had he gotten there?

With a glare at the loud jerk, Kankuro raised his hand, promptly placed it on his face, and shoved him back. Then he huffed with a shake of his head, "Why don't you go and get a tattoo?"

From the gasp both Ino and Kiba suddenly released, Kankuro knew he had said the wrong thing.

"Matching tattoos!"

Immediately, Kankuro looked over at Sasuke, completely expecting to find the Uchiha leaving his cozy little solitary corner in the only recliner to walk over to his best friend and put him to bed. What he found, though, was the Uchiha with a contemplative look on his face, his chin in one hand, a glass of some untrustworthy liquid in the other.

Now that he thought about it, they had been here for a while. The alcohol had flown freely. And even though he'd only drank a shot and a beer, he knew Kiba had downed at least four different shots. And while Sasuke tended to drink slower than the rest of the group, he'd returned from an especially tiring campaign just yesterday and Naruto had said they'd all needed to unwind…

Fuck, Kankuro thought as dread filled him. Sasuke's eyes were partly hooded, his pupils dilated and kind of hazy.

Sasuke was drunk.

"I know a guy!"

Tenten always knew a guy. She'd been the one to set Naruto up with his beer guy. And she'd been the one to set Kiba up with his hard liquor guy. And he was also sure she'd set something up with Hinata, but he wasn't completely sure… Kiba hadn't let him in on that secret just yet.

"We are not going to get tattoos." Shino, the only ray of intelligence within the cesspit of stupidity they'd formed, spoke up.

Kiba promptly ruined it. "Shino needs more alcohol!"

Even though he was partly terrified when he found Kiba springing away from his spot on the couch to run at Shino at high speed, Kankuro had to admit that he was kind of amazed. Even partially drunk and extremely stupid, Kiba could move like a freaking animal. Which was a compliment to the guy.

Shino tried to fight Kiba off. But Kankuro could tell that those attempts were half hearted- the guy most probably was looking for an excuse to get drunk. And if it was Kiba that forced him to drink, then he couldn't really be blamed. The Inuzuka Clan was, apparently, extremely terrifying and one was only supposed to defy them if horrible body harm could occur because of their plans.

Like the perfect witness he was, Kankuro just watched in mild amusement and slight terror as Kiba forced a whole bottle of beer inside of Shino's large collar. The rest of the Konoha Idiots watched on as well, apparently much too entranced by seeing the spectacle to actually stop and think about kindness or how Shino had never drank a drop of alcohol and this may not be the best decision.

In less than five minutes, Shino was the first one to insist that matching tattoos were the best idea in the world.

Kankuro didn't really want to get a tattoo… His body was marred with scars, sure, but he prided himself in his mostly flawless skin… But… Well… If the tattoo was cool, then he wouldn't really stop them.

After Shino, the only person to even try and fight was Hinata. But one bright smile from Naruto had her saying she wanted a tattoo too, so that was a problem that was easily fixed.

In less than an hour, they wound up at the house of Tenten's guy. Which was a pretty nice house, if Kankuro could admit. Rather large, so this guy must have had money. Money usually equated to sleazy civilians. But if Tenten trusted this guy, then maybe she had a point.

The guy Tenten spoke about was actually a girl. A dark skinned girl with bright green eyes and dark red hair. She was shorter than everybody inside of her home except for, obviously, Akamaru as he stood on his four legs. But when he stood up on his hind paws, he happened to be taller… So the chick was extremely short.

As Tenten began to negotiate in that rapid fire speech of hers, Kankuro looked over all of the Konoha Idiots he was going to share a tattoo with.

Just why was he getting a tattoo?

Hinata smiled softly at him and asked him if he was alright, did he need some water or food? She'd brought snacks and bottles just to make sure nobody passed out while they got tattoos. And if that wasn't the cutest thing he'd ever heard, Kankuro would be a damned liar.

One by one they went to get a tattoo. In all, they took up about three hours. When only Kankuro was left, it was four in the morning, most of the hyperactive teenagers that had been the loudest during the night were asleep, Shikamaru and Ino were struggling to contain a hungry Chouji, and Shino and Hinata were inside of the bathroom as the Aburame puked up his guts.

When he entered the small room where all of his friends had received their tattoos- which had remained hidden beneath bandages so that they could all unveil it together-, Kankuro was greeted by a friendly and much too energetic smile.

"Last customer." He nodded at her as he sat down.

"Last customer." She breathed out, grabbing her stencil with one hand as he pulled up the sleeve of his arm to show her his right forearm. "You sure 'bout that area?"

"I can take pain."

"I know that, but you sure you want a drunken tattoo be seen from a mile away?" She questioned, actually sounding worried. "Most of your friends chose spots that were much easier to hide." For a moment, she pursed her lips and hummed in thought, and, finally, she relented, "Except for Naruto. He wanted it on his neck. But Sasuke talked him out of it. Now they've both got it on their hips."

"Ooh, sexy." Kankuro smirked at her, causing her to roll her green eyes, "Nah, seriously, I'm safe. I always wear long sleeves. Pale skin and desert sun don't mix well."

Her eyes twinkled in understanding at that, "Lobster red ain't as sexy as some might think, huh?"

"Not at all."

They shared a small laugh, then she pulled out the rest of her kit and began to work.

Kankuro kept his eyes closed throughout the whole thing, but he didn't really feel any pain. The machine she was using felt more like tiny pin pricks than anything. And when broken bones and minor concussions were someone's usual cup of tea when it came to pain, pin pricks felt like absolutely nothing.

Momentarily, he wondered just why in the hell he was allowing himself to get this tattoo. He wasn't one of the group. He wasn't from Konoha. He hadn't grown up with any of these people. And he certainly didn't love all of them. His closest friendships were from this very group, sure… but did he really have a right to share this stupidly private experience?

It wasn't that he wanted to get all girly about it… But wouldn't this connect them all to some degree? Like, yeah, they could eventually get rid of the tattoo if they hated it. But for the moment being, wouldn't they all be united by this one, extremely reckless, but rather hilarious decision they'd allowed the dumbest members of them to make?

When he began to wonder if he was emotionally prepared to be connected to these people, it was too late to turn back. The dark skinned woman had shut off her machine, oiled up his arm, and wrapped it up in bandages. During this whole process, she had one of the biggest smiles on her face Kankuro had ever seen.

"Good job, Sand Boy. Now get out there. Get some shut eye."

Kankuro nodded, stood up from the chair he'd lain on, pulled down his sleeve, and walked out to the main room where he found all of the Konoha Idiots passed out along sofas, chairs, and, in Shikamaru's case, the floor.

Just how had he allowed this to happen? He didn't even drink… Probably too lazy to try and stop his friends…

Tired, somewhat hazy, and more than ready for some shut eye, Kankuro decided that he didn't really give a damn. He trudged over to where Kiba was sleeping splayed out on a large recliner, pushed him off of it so he fell onto the floor with Akamaru, and took up the warm space.

His sleep was dreamless and nice.

When he woke up, it was to shouts of excitement, surprise, and even one groan of disbelief.

"This is so pretty!"

"I cannot believe this is what you allowed! Tenten, I'm going to kill you!"

"Why am I even friends with these people?"

"Huh… It looks kinda cool there."

When Kankuro opened his eyes, it was to find Sakura smiling in amazement at a red faced Hinata's ribs, Neji glaring at a broadly smiling Tenten, Shino with his head in his hands, and Naruto looking down at his left hip.

It was as he saw Naruto's hip that Kankuro finally saw what they had all been branded with.

"Huh…"

Kiba, who was currently sitting up with his shirt pulled up half way as he looked at his own ribs, looked up at him with a curious look on his face. "What's up, Drag Queen?"

Kankuro remained quiet as he pulled up his right sleeve to glance down at his own tattoo. There, he pulled away the bandages, and got a good look of the design.

Contrasting against his pale skin with masterfully administered hues of red and green, he found a rose. One large rose with extremely detailed petals and leaves on its stem. And written on a sort of cloth, cutting across the green stem, was one simple word. Family.

He was sure he was supposed to be outraged over the fact that this was a flower and flowers were girly, so he was supposed to hate it. But he was much too taken aback by the fact that he'd been graced with the honor of being considered family to even think about that.

Looking up at the people experiencing different reactions to the tattoos, Kankuro couldn't help but wonder if this was what family was supposed to be. Neji and Shino would be pissed off with Tenten, without a doubt. But they would get over it and they'd eventually look back on this experience and laugh.

Whenever he and Temari fought, they fought. There were no apologies afterwards, no laughter to have. They would just sweep everything under a metaphorical rug because understanding each other was much too difficult.

But Kankuro could understand these idiots. He could make fun of them and they could make fun of him, but at the end of the day they knew they all liked each other to some degree, even though not equally. And even though not everyone loved him, they all tolerated him.

Would any of those that didn't like him speak up against him being branded with the family tattoo?

Kankuro never did get to see if any of the people that he knew didn't like him would say something. Chouji spoke up at that point to ask if there was any food. And, at the same time, the previously slumbering Rock Lee finally sprung up to declare how wonderfully youthful their night had been, only to then begin to shout about his unbearable headache and how could he have allowed this to happen again- Tenten, you promised that juice was purely non-alcoholic!

Kankuro still didn't know why Lee trusted Tenten when it came to alchol… But he found the results pretty amusing.

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