Mara. Happy Damn Birthday. As you already knew the other present as I had already bribed you and all that, this is for kicks. And a personal touch or something like that I'm sure. And just because it's your birthday – no other reason – I'll tone down the … not so nice comments that I would usually put here. Like accusing you of being an anime groupie.
Woops, just did. Oh well.
This story puts a different spin on things.
"Hello Mr. Sabaku and welcome to-"
"Shut up and find me a room so I can sleep," Kankuro cut off the escort, swiping at his head tiredly before being escorted to the nearest inn with available rooms.
- 48 Hours Later – He wakes -
"Mr. Sabaku, there are people here to see you. Apparently, word got around that you were in the village," interrupted the lady from the reception desk as he was trying to leave the inn.
Glancing to his immediate left, he noticed a crowd of people – some fan-girls, some not, and yet all there for him. He should probably feel flattered but considering they were probably only wanting to see him for the latest information on the Kazekage or wanting to sleep with him to get points in their favor with the Kazekage… well, it wasn't as nice as it seemed.
With a muttered curse and some explicit swearing, he quickly ran back to his room and – after slinging Karasu over his shoulder – climber through the window and ran with classic ninja stealth to the massive training grounds.
Glad that he had avoided and/or outrun his seemingly persistent pursuers, he slumped to the ground at the base of a large tree. He was sick of people in general and wishing for a quiet place to work on his puppets. He used to have a nice, fully furnished workshop in his family home back in Suna, but it had lost its capacity for 'quiet and peaceful' when Gaara had-
Pulled sharply out of his (for once not perverted) thoughts by the sight of a certain pink-haired medic-nin, he looked up as she oh-so-delicately placing herself in front of him, uncaring that he wished to be completely devoid of all human contact.
Confused at the lack of overly perverted comments that were usually coming out of his mouth, Sakura decided to tentatively ask, "What's wrong?" with genuine concern laced into her voice.
Tired, sick of human contact and just all-around pissed-off, Kankuro glared but answered, wanting it to be over and her to leave him in peace, "Gaara defiled my workshop."
Paying no attention to the acerbic tone to his voice, Sakura inquired, as polite and curious as she always was, "Well, how could he defile it? If he destroyed it, I'm sure that he would pay for a sufficient replacement for you. He's considerate like that now."
Kankuro wasn't deaf and didn't miss the slight emphasis on the word now. Gaara had changed a lot since his fight with Naruto, in the sense that he wasn't a senseless killer, but that wasn't the problem at hand. No, now days, he had found a new outlet for his… frustration.
"He didn't destroy it exactly. I just don't want to go in there anymore, after what he did. And the screaming keeps me up at night," Kankuro spat bitterly.
"Why don't you tell him to stop making so much noise?"'
"This is Gaara we're talking about. You can't make him stop doing anything. And anyway, Maya would back him up too. Trying to stop them doing stuff is like trying to stop the Uchiha going after his brother for revenge. Not gonna happen."
"Wait a second. Who's Maya?" Sakura asked, really confused.
"She's Garra's new girlfriend. And they got together a few years ago, after the Gaara and Naruto fight. She is the real reason Gaara doesn't kill so much anymore. He only used to kill to get rid of his frustration. And because he has Shukaku, he grew up – physically – quicker then most people. So he had a lot of… frustration… and the only way he could vent was to kill. Now, he gets rid of it in other ways. With the help of Maya of course."
- In Suna – The Sabaku Mansion -
Many screams were heard, echoing through the night. The younger village people were glad that they weren't on the end of such horrific sounding torture; they hadn't stopped screaming for hours! The more experienced villagers were jealous that they weren't on the receiving end of such… pleasure.
In the room however, the occupants had lost all capacity to think let alone talk.
Gaara found himself able to say only one coherent sentence – the first he'd spoken in days… "Happy birthday, Maya."