Spontaneous Combustion

Disclaimer: I don't own. Naruto and other related characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. I do not profit from this, though it would be neat.

Warnings: AU, YAOI, some OOC-ness, there might be some spoilers when talking about some characters, but nothing more than names, secret identities and plot being revealed. Take notice this is AU, and I might be just inventing everything. I will be making real and confusing spoilers in the AN just for the hell of it.

Kono chikaku de…

It was a sunny afternoon. The sunlight caressed the sand and the ocean made a relaxing sound, making the sight even more calming. It seemed to be really warm and peaceful; it made Kankurou wish he was there instead of being in their new house in the horribly cold and rainy Konoha.

Konoha wasn't really that cold, he just was used to the desert weather of Suna, his hometown. Even when Suna was cold at night it didn't compare to the way Konoha was cold.

At first he had been ecstatic when it started raining, it was rare for it to rain all of the sudden in Suna, especially during summer. But the rain kept going and there had been three days now. It didn't rain all the time, but the sun didn't come out either. It was just too different from what he was used to.

"Konoha makes my hair puffy" his sister said while she was trying to get her blonde hair on her accustomed four pigtails.

"Do you think it will ever stop raining?" He asked with a hint of exasperation while turning the TV off.

"It has to; I heard summers in Konoha were pleasant"

"Bunch of lies" he muttered "Where's Gaara?"

"I don't know, his room maybe"

"I'm bored"

They had just moved; the reason? Their father. He was a well known politician back in Suna and after his retirement he was offered a new job as the advisor of some person's campaign. He had agreed and they moved right away.

His father was old fashioned, he wasn't a man who considered whether his kids were content with his decisions or not, he just made them and they were final.

Temari, the elder of them, was cool with it because for her Konoha had so much more to offer than Suna plus she was going to a college in town. It didn't mean she was completely pleased with the sudden change, but she didn't bitch about it all that much.

Gaara, his younger brother, didn't seem to care at all. Even though Kankurou knew he liked the sand, there wasn't much keeping Gaara anywhere.

And he, well he had a life made in Suna.

He had friends, he was well known by his peers and he was (finally) learning how to make his own puppets.

He even had a chance to study under the same person his idol did.

That pissed him off to no end. His father had went on and stepped all over him and his life. He liked Suna more than his siblings did, that was for sure, and he was sure that, for as much as this place had to offer, it wouldn't offer him a good enough replacement for his 16 years in Sunny Suna.

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The next day the rain had subdued and it seemed that it was safe to go out.

They only had one car because, well, Temari was the only one who behaved so she got a car a couple of years ago for her birthday. Kankurou suspected that now that Temari was off to college he would get his own, cause honestly he refused to walk a step if he had to do it under the freaking rain, and they had to get to school somehow; plus, busses were not an option, a big thank you to little Gaara who couldn't stand crowded places.

Temari decided she needed new clothes and she was dragging both of her brothers with her, she was itching to explore the town. Kankurou decided he could make some damage to his father's credit card in revenge and Gaara agreed to go with them.

The girl made comments about a mall nearby and that they might as well change the house decoration. Neither of the males cared about that.

The mall Temari chose was huge, but according to her they had all day.

Kankurou noticed that they didn't look that much different from the people in Konoha. He was wearing a hoodie with cat ears that hided his unruly brown hair and his entire outfit was black, however what called people's attention was his kabuki make up. Even though the same thing happened in his former town, he felt as though these Konoha people were judging him and he didn't like that.

He noticed how girls in Konoha wore light clothing, even though it was cloudy and would probably rain. Temari's clothes were slightly different, not so revealing but she didn't look all that different from everyone.

Gaara was weird. He was extremely pale for someone who grew up in the desert, his naturally bright red hair and rare aquamarine eyes thickly outlined by black eyeliner along with his features made him appealing to the sight; however, he had this creepy vibe that no matter how he looked made him unapproachable and unable to blend into the crowd. He liked dark tones but he didn't just wear black and his clothes were always baggy or too big for him. He walked coolly in a way that made Kankurou think that he hadn't even noticed they were in a different city.

They went in to different stores until Kankurou just couldn't take it anymore.

"I need food!"

"Are you crazy? You had lunch at home!" his sister retorted

"That was a long time ago!"

"Let's go into a couple more places and then we'll go get food"

"I want to sit down" the younger Sabaku said

"Oh, ok then, we'll go to more stores later, maybe we can get the food you wanted Kankurou"

Kankurou drew air "How come you do what he says and never listen to me!" he yelled with an insulted expression

"Don't be such a baby" his younger brother said and Temari chuckled making Gaara smirk.

Kankurou stared at him wide eyed "Shut it pipsqueak!" the redhead half glared at him and Temari just kept laughing.

They sat down at one of the tables from the food court, Temari was the one who retrieved the food since both of her brothers were too lazy to do it… once the food was in the table Kankurou literally attacked it, while Gaara only took a soda.

"So how do you like it so far?" Temari asked trying to start a conversation

"What? The mall? It's humongous" Kankurou spoke with his mouth full of food.

"I mean Konoha stupid"

Kankurou made a face for both the insult and the question.

"I don't like it here, the people are nosy and nasty and can't mind their own damned business, and the damned rain…"

"You know, if you didn't wear that paint people wouldn't look at you… besides, you should really give the place a chance and stop acting like a little kid Kankurou, you never know what you might find here"

"It's never gonna be the same"

"Of course not. It doesn't mean it can't be good" Kankurou only grunted in response and she continued "How about you Gaara? How do you like it so far?"

Gaara shrugged "I don't"

"That's my brother!" Kankurou said happily as he felt a little support to his cause.

"They don't have the channels I watch"

"We'll get cable, don't worry" Temari told he youngest brother in a consoling tone, the redhead just nodded.

"You have to be kidding me!" Kankurou blurted exasperated.

"We had cable back in Suna; it's not that big of a deal"

"I can't believe that TV channels are the only thing he thinks about!"

"It's not my fault you like to complicate yourself" the younger said munching on his fries and Kankurou growled displeased at his siblings, did they really don't care at all?

"We need to hurry, I still want to check some more stores and it's getting late"

Kankurou shoved more food into his mouth and grabbed his soda as they walked out to see more stores and by the looks of it, prepare for a full afternoon of Temari's shopping habits.

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Days passed by fast enough. It was Saturday and their father had a 'welcome to the team' reception, which translated into fancy dinner with utmost boring people and food that looked like you shouldn't be eating it. Not to mention that they had to dress up 'formally' (meaning no make up for the guys and nice outfits) and reenact the 'lovely happy family' thing.

At first they really weren't a close family, they lived by a 'for each its own' kind of thing but that slowly changed. The siblings began to be more supporting towards each other; they'd put up with their father and remain close. Their father wasn't all there with them and for the most part they were thankful, since the man's mood changed more drastically than that of a pregnant woman's.

Kankurou wasn't one to mind what they did, even though he hated formalities and felt slightly naked without his make up, he could adjust. He just wasn't in the mood for pretending everything was alright, after all, he was still really pissed at his father.

The deal usually was that he and Gaara were to remain as silent as possible and be polite to the people around them, while Temari would greet and meet the people their father deemed important. And this day, everything was important.

His father always wanted to surround himself with this people with big names and become one of them. It was like a blessing he got hired by an Uchiha. In this gathering there would be reunited the elite people from Konoha and its surroundings which would take him a step forward to his goal.

Even though they were wealthy they were not filthy rich as the people his father looked up to and secretly envied. The Sabaku didn't have nearly as much influence and power like those families did either.

It didn't matter. As long as his father didn't want to force Temari to get married to an heir, he didn't give a fuck for what went on in the man's head.

Once he was ready he went downstairs where Gaara was already waiting. He was wearing a suit much like himself, but he had his make up on.

"Clean your eyes"

"I don't think people will notice"

"You look like a fucking raccoon, how can they not?"

"You look ugly without make up"

"Shut up"

Temari came down a little later; she eyed her brothers and nodded approvingly at the way they looked.

"You two really need to discover the wonders of combing your hair"

"Neh. My hair is awesome just the way it is" Kankurou said running his hand through his hair and messing it up a little more, Gaara did the same with his but he tried to make it so that it would cover his forehead and eyes. Either way, both of them looked like they had just woken up.

Some minutes later their father walked in and complimented Temari on her outfit and the way she looked told Kankurou to fix his tie and barely glanced at Gaara not saying anything, though it was pretty evident he saw the redhead's eyes from the very visible twitch of his eyebrow.

"Let's get going, we don't want to be late" their father spoke and they left to the party. It troubled Kankurou the way his father looked so amused.

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The only thing Kankurou had to appreciate from the rich was the food. The waiters already avoided him after he took a full tray from one of them, but he didn't care, he had gotten Gaara to eat some of the appetizers.

So far he had been introduced to his father's new boss. A nice lady she was, a nice rich lady who served nice delicious appetizers. His father had insisted that it was the three of them who met all the people he worked with and not just Temari like they did back in Suna. He loved the expressions of these people when they saw Gaara. The party was good; all he needed now was get one of them waiters to give him a drink or two. He always wondered how Gaara would act drunk.

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The former Kazekage had never been so exited. A lot of the people in the reunion were part of the committee and he'd already met them, since they had been working together for the past days, but the people he was anxious to meet we're the investors. The perks of working for an Uchiha was that they were bound to be associated with people as influential as them, if not more.

After a while Uchiha Mikoto, his boss, introduced him as her new advertiser to the concurrence. He introduced her to his family and she did the same. He was glad his kids behaved. The only Uchiha's he was left to meet were her boss' kids, the so-called Uchiha prodigies, but that could wait.

Right about now he wanted to concentrate in the man in front of him; Mikoto deemed appropriate for him to meet one of the investors of her campaign who was also a friend of her family, the president of Byakugan Inc., Hyuuga Hiashi.

Hyuuga's were one of the wealthier families in Konoha, they had always been. But this particular Hyuuga was not just wealthy but filthy rich. Not only he was the head of the Hyuuga's main house and president of Byakugan, he was the man who unified the main and branch houses and closed the gap between the families, making the foundation of their organization stronger which allowed the corporation to become greater.

He was talking to the man who was probably the most influential person in the country, and one of the most important in the business world.

After a short conversation regarding Suna and Konoha's political and economical positions (that no one cares about), the Sabaku noticed three young persons making their way over to them. All of them held the Hyuuga traits, pearly white eyes, pale skin and dark hair. They were two girls and a boy. Once they made their way over to where the Sabaku and the elder Hyuuga were they greeted them politely and Hiashi introduced them.

"These are my two daughters Hinata and Hanabi…" he pointed at the two girls, both of them bowed lightly at the introduction saying a polite 'Nice to meet you' "…and my boy here is my nephew…"

"Hyuuga Neji" the boy cut his uncle's introduction and offered a hand to the Sabaku, the elder Hyuuga only laughed placing his hand on his nephews shoulder, leaving the Suna man slightly confused, still he shook the offered hand as he introduced himself.

"Sabaku no Sakyuu (1)"

"I know, sir, I've heard a lot about you, it's a pleasure to meet you"

"Sabaku-san, I understand you too have kids"

"Yes, I do. Three actually, two guys and a girl"

"Opposite as me" the Hyuuga stated with a smile "Are they here?"

"As a matter of fact they are" Temari was only a few meters away talking to a random old lady, so she could clearly see when her father made a sign for her to come over; knowing the drill she signaled her brothers to join in. The former Kazekage could only hope his two sons behave in front of the other man and his family.

Temari greeted formally with a 'good evening' while Kankurou blurted out a loud 'Hi' that sounded much like 'Hey', either way his father didn't appreciate it, Gaara just stood there looking somewhat lost.

"This is my daughter, Temari; she'll be attending the University of Konoha this year"

"Is that so?" Hiashi asked with amusement to Temari.

"Yes, sir"

"You know, I graduated from Konoha University myself, what is that you're planning on studying?"

"Business, sir"

"Oh really? Just like my boy here! He still has a year of high school though"

The boy stepped forward offering a hand to the blonde as he spoke in a silky voice

"Hyuuga Neji, pleased to meet you, Temari-san"

Temari shook the offered hand. It was known that girls just helplessly fell to the Hyuuga's feet by having him directing whatever words towards them, Temari not so much… well kept guys didn't fill her senses.

However, another one of the persons present didn't do too well avoiding the spell.

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There were very little times in life when Gaara had the burning desire of strangling his older brother. This was one of them.

Not only had he made him eat some things that only God knows what were they made of, but he have had the sense to suggest for them to drink some of the fancy cocktails they were serving. Who would've thought it was alcohol? Ok, they knew it was alcohol, but maybe he should've had the right judgment not drink one of each or mix them.

He just couldn't take Kankurou's teasing. It was all his fault. And now there he was feeling like shit even though he was almost sure it didn't show, but he couldn't tell for the life of him what he was doing.

And then the worst happened.

They had been greeting random people all night until they met their father's boss and he left them alone. Then he and Kankurou decided to have a contest in which they'd go and converse with some random person, whoever lasted longer won. So far Gaara was losing. Then Kankurou decided it was time to get something to drink, he bet that he could drink faster. Gaara won. The redhead didn't even know why he continuously let himself get caught in his older brother's claws, but he just did. Then Temari called them up, and he realized they were meeting someone, after walking a few steps he realized he'd had too many drinks by the way the floor seemed to be moving.

And then he saw him. Long dark hair, pale skin, mesmerizing eyes, tall and well built physique, an air of elegance and a posture that demanded respect. Gaara was openly staring until the other caught him. He tried to avert his eyes, focusing on a spot on the floor and then he heard it, the most beautiful, sexiest voice in the whole world.

"Hyuuga Neji, pleased to meet you, Temari-san"

At that point he couldn't have stopped staring even if he wanted, he felt his face heating up and prayed to whomever who might hear him that he didn't look like a total idiot. He didn't recollect anything else until Kankurou nudged him on the ribs since his father apparently had presented them, he said a court "nice to meet you" with a nod, and shook the hands of both Neji and the other people…

By touching the other he could instantly feel himself flush, he saw a tiny smile gracing Neji's lips and felt his heart clench.

'Damn you, Kankurou'.

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Both adults kept talking, Temari and Neji doing few interventions and then picking a conversation by themselves, Kankurou joining them only to call them both nerds. Temari had smacked him upside the head, while Neji just laughed. Gaara was brooding because Neji paid attention to Temari and even Kankurou; Hinata and Hanabi were only listening.

"I'm assuming you're enrolling them in the Hidden Leaf's High School, am I right?" Hiashi spoke.

"Of course, it's the best school in the city" the Sabaku answered and Kankurou rolled his eyes.

After that, they heard a ruckus made mostly by girls and Hiashi spoke again

"Seems as though Mikoto's kids are here"

Minutes later Mikoto appeared, two guys linked to her arms in each side. The taller one had long hair and lines under his reddish eyes; the smaller one had an interesting hairdo, his eyes were pitch black and looked far more aloof than his brother.

"Sabaku-san! This are my babies!" the woman stated with a huge smile while both boys raised an eyebrow at the introduction. "This is Itachi-" she pointed at the taller "-and this is Sasuke. Aren't they handsome, uh? Temari?" Temari embarrassedly agreed while laughing along with the others, while Itachi looked amused and Sasuke seemed to be really uncomfortable.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sabaku-san, I've heard a lot about you and I'm sure you'll be a great asset to my mother's campaign" Itachi spoke.

After both boys introduced themselves they were ushered to go someplace else, so the grownups could have grownups talk.

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At their retirement, Temari was invited by the girls to go sit somewhere and started chatting, Itachi took off with Neji who dragged Kankurou with him. The younger Uchiha pulled Gaara to the opposite side when the redhead was about to follow his crush, I mean, his brother.

"You won't be accepted in that group, is for assholes only"

"Kankurou is not an asshole" he never thought those words would ever leave his mouth, but hey, he was tipsy.

"Of course not" the younger Uchiha said sarcastically.

"Where are we going?"

"To sit somewhere. I want something to drink"

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Kankurou was being dragged around by other guys; finally they got to a table in which six persons were sitting. There was a guy with eyes much like Itachi's, he looked older though. He was talking to a guy with red hair and a bunch of piercings both of them looked like they could bite your head off, next to redhead was a girl with blue hair that looked like she was gonna pass out from boredom in any moment; then there was a creepy man with long hair, golden eyes and purple make-up (that made Kankurou grimace since he was deprived of his own), and lastly there were two other guys, a really tall one that looked much like a shark and then a younger looking one telling jokes, his eyes were much as the Sasuke kid and he looked somewhat Uchiha-ish.

As they got there, the man talking to the redhead left without so much as glancing at them. Itachi took a seat between the shark looking dude and the weird looking make-up man. Neji sat next to the guy who was telling jokes and Kankurou next to Neji. Most of the people at the table looked out of place, like they didn't belong in such a fancy event.

Soon after getting there, Kankurou learned that the redhead's name was Pein, that he was a great business man (go figure) and that his organization had deals with the Uchiha's. The girl (Konan was her name) was his right hand, Itachi, Orochimaru (weird looking guy) and Kisame (weirder looking man) worked for/with him. The guy telling jokes was Shisui, he was an Uchiha, Itachi and Sasuke's cousin.

Itachi pretty much ditched them (Kankurou was counting Neji on his 'team'); the Sabaku found out he was going to go to the same school and be on the same grade as the long haired teen with whom he got along really well and also befriended Shisui, who suggested they left since the people in the table were no longer taking notice of them, so they did.

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With Gaara and Sasuke things were kind of the same, except Sasuke didn't joined any other people, it was basically both of them. The dark haired teen explained to Gaara that his friends were either not welcomed or couldn't come. He also explained they were going to school together (the raven knew because Mikoto had made a big deal out of it). Gaara also learned which one was the best tasting wine and what drinks shouldn't go together. Apparently Sasuke took instant liking of him for being partially drunk while meeting them and the Hyuuga's, so they were now 'buddies'. He personally thought the Uchiha was weird.

"Why didn't we go with Kankurou and the others?" the redhead asked, they had been too busy stealing alcohol to talk about it yet.

"They're boring"

Gaara stared at him waiting for the Uchiha to elaborate; Sasuke did only because the silence and stares were eerie.

"They would have ignored us and would've had to just sit there, plus my so called tutor is there and I don't want to see him"

The redhead nodded, he wanted to take a glance at the Hyuuga, but he couldn't see where they were sitting.

"He goes to our school"

"Uh?"

"Neji, he goes to our school"

"Oh"

Since he felt too embarrassed to say anything else, he focused on the other people and asking questions to the younger Uchiha who seemed to only know every dark little secret about all the guests.

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By the end of the party Kankurou had become good friends with both Neji and Suishi, for his surprise Neji wasn't as stuck up as he thought and the Uchiha was exactly as he thought, a loudmouth perverted bastard, and he liked that.

Temari had conversed with the Hyuuga girls and later she was forced to dance with Itachi by Mikoto, the Orochimaru guy looked like he wanted to chew her head and then spit it.

Sasuke and Gaara had been hiding because they didn't want to be forced to dance and they actually stood under a table for almost half an hour.

At some point in life Mikoto was talking about who Temari, Hinata and Hanabi should marry, she made clear that Sasuke and Neji were out of the question because they were both gay (which made Gaara happy) and that they were gonna marry each other (which made Gaara sad), neither of the boys said anything about it. Her final pairings were: Itachi and Temari, Neji and Sasuke, Hinata and Shisui (who instantly put an arm around her and yelled 'I do', making the girl's face mimic a tomato in color) and finally Gaara and Hanabi, after that the redhead had to struggle to pry the overly joyous girl off his arm; oddly enough the elder Hyuuga and Sabaku agreed with the pairings. Kankurou was happy he didn't have to marry into any of those families.

At the end of the night the Sabaku family learned that Uchiha Mikoto was a force or weirdness impossible to stop.

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The following week was the last before school, Kankurou didn't bitch all that much since he had been hanging out with Neji and sometimes even Shisui. He met the Hyuuga's friends, TenTen, a brunet sort of tomboyish girl with a fascination for weaponry, and Lee, a weird guy with fuzzy eyebrows dressed in green with a 'youthful' attitude who loved martial arts. The two of them where ok in Kankurou's book.

Apparently the three of them had known each other since they were little and trained martial arts with the same teacher, Lee and TenTen maybe weren't exactly the kind of people you imagine a Hyuuga to hang around with, but they were really cool and down to earth, keeping the brunet in check. The first time Neji saw Kankurou with the kabuki make-up on he decided he attracted strange people; he didn't know how right he was.

Over the last weekend before school, they went out to get whatever they needed for school. TenTen had suggested they went to the movies afterwards and everyone agreed.

Once in the movies, Kankurou and Lee were sent to get the food, Lee was talking about youth and things of the sort, so Kankurou decided he'd tune him out as he tried to remember what he was supposed to get, he really need to start paying more attention to what others told him.

"Do you remember what we were supposed to get?"

"WHY YES MY DEAR FRIEND! NEJI WANTS A LARGE SODA, LARGE POPCORN WITH KETCHUP, TWO PACKS OF M&M'S AND A CHERRY FIZZ, TENTEN WANTS A LARGE SODA, A CHILLY HOT-DOG, NACHOS AND A MILKY WAY BAR. YOU NEVER SAID WHAT YOU WANTED AND I'LL HAVE SOME CURRY!"

Kankurou sweat dropped. He was about to say that there might be no curry but decided against it.

After getting all the stuff he was walking careful not to drop anything, Lee was walking ahead of him, talking about spring time and stuff when someone hit Kankurou nearly tripping him over.

"Watch it you moron!"

"Look where you're going loser!"

They turned towards each other glaring.

Kankurou then saw a guy shorter than himself, pale skin and gray hair; he took notice of the purple eye shadow and green lipstick.

The guy in question raised an eyebrow at taller teen and his kabuki make-up and weird attire; the same thought appeared on their heads as they walked in opposite directions.

'Freak'.

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A/N!

(1) It means "sand dune" or "sand hill"… couldn't find anything better…

I don't feel like spoiling anything, so no spoilers. I think everyone already knew the names of the akatsuki's leader and the blue haired character, so that doesn't count.

Ok, so thanks to Corvin I am now a wholehearted supporter of KankySakon and since there's very little of them out there, I just thought I should give it a try and hopefully not suck so bad at it. NejiGaa is a given. Let's all try to get more stories with these pairings, it will make the world a better place

Umm, what else, I shall be updating everything soon enough. I think I had enough vacation and my writing mood is back, so yeah, I hope to make progress on my other stuff as well.

Right now I'm working on 6 different things at a time, I can't focus on just one and I feel like pulling my hair off.

So that's it. Thanks a lot.

Laterz.

Next chapter:

"Excuse me you creepy little gnome, how about you go die"

"Who are you calling a gnome you Suna Pig!"