Kankuro was muttering under his breath while walking down the hall to the storage room. Temari had assigned him into gathering and packing all of the stuff inside the storage room because they were moving out later in the afternoon, back to the Kazekage's Mansion, since Gaara was appointed as Kazekage. Kankuro complained but knew he didn't stand a chance against his sister, so he agreed to it, sulking. "Don't be such a child, Kankuro," Temari had said. "Don't be such a child, Kankuro," he repeated in a mocking tone as he opened the door to the storage room. A great amount of dust greeted him, and he coughed. "Agh! When was this room last cleaned? Never, I bet." After letting the dust settle, he went inside and took a look at the room. It was as big as a bedroom- in fact, it was one. It was a spare room in the house that the council provided when they were asked to move out of the mansion ever since their father, the Fourth Kazekage, was killed. They brought so much stuff with them that they decided that since there were four bedrooms available, and they were only three, the extra room would be turned into a storage room.

And Kankuro was glad that they'll finally be moving back to their previous home, where there were room keepers to clean the rooms for them. He sighed at how much he was going to fix and carry, and decided to start with a pile of cardboard boxes at the corner. He realized that they were the boxes they used to put all their belongings in when they moved here, and Temari had wanted to keep them for recycling purposes. Assuming she forgot about it, he proceeded to moving them outside the room to be disposed of later. Kankuro carried the third to the last box to find it heavy. Something was inside. Curious, he opened the box and took a look at the inside.

If shinobi weren't trained to suppress their emotions, Kankuro would be crying. Instead, he bit his lip and gently lifted the sand castle from the box and placed it on the floor. It looked just like it was several years ago, when it was first created, thanks to Gaara's special sand encasing it. No scratches no chipped off pieces, no cracks. Nothing. He stared at it for a while, and then smiled.

The next day, the Suna Siblings were having breakfast in the huge dining area of the mansion. "Ahh, I miss this place," Kankuro mused. "I miss the rooms, the halls, the training rooms, the food..."

"Hey!" Temari exclaimed. "Are you saying that my cooking is bad?" Kankuro just grinned at her. She rolled her eyes, and then turned her attention to Gaara. "Do you need help today, Gaara? You've just become Kazekage, and you might not be used to the work yet. Me and Kankuro will help you if you want," she offered. Kankuro didn't look too happy about it, though. Gaara thought for a while. True, he might have a hard time since it was only his second day as the Kazekage. "Sure," he agreed after thinking about it. When the three were finished, the servants took their plates. Gaara turned to the direction to his office. "I have to do something first," Temari announced. "I'll stop by your office in ten minutes, Gaara. Meanwhile, Kankuro, you help him."

"Yeah, yeah," Kankuro muttered.

The two brothers walked in silence until they reached the Kazekage's office. Then Kankuro said, "Hey Gaara, I have to get something from my room first. Don't worry, I'm not bailing out. I'll be back." Gaara nodded, and the two went separate ways. Kankuro went to his room and opened his closet, where he was hiding the box containing the sand castle. He intended for it to be a gift, so with Temari's help, wrapped it in glossy orange wrapping and attached a green ribbon and an envelope, containing a note. He walked to his brother's office, and adjusted on moving all of the weight of the present on his left hand so he can knock with his right. "Come in." He twisted the knob and let himself in. Gaara glanced up at him and his eyes landed on the item Kankuro was carrying. "What is that?" he asked. Kankuro set it down on the Kazekage's desk with a huff, mentally noting that he had to work out more. "What is it?" his brother asked again, eyes glued on the box. For a brief moment he wondered if there was any special event on that day. "Just a little something for my little brother. Think of it as... hmm. Think of it as a congratulations gift for being Kazekage." Kankuro grinned at him. Gaara got up from the chair and stood by the box. He took the stiff paper from inside the envelope that was attached to it. In Kankuro's legible handwriting, it read:

To: Gaara

Hey little brother. Congratulations on being Suna's new Kazekage! I know you're gonna be a great Kazekage, and the people will look up to you soon. I just know it. If you need any help or if you need a break, just ask help from me or Temari. Don't worry, I'm reliable. Anyways, this is something I found from the storage room back at our house. If you don't want it, you can give it back. It's alright with me. If you're wondering why I kept it all these years... well, I'm just as curious as you are. Maybe 'cause it gave me some kind of hope. Hope that, well, you'd change. And you did. Heh, I don't sound like myself in this letter, huh? Well, go ahead and open it, bro.

Fr: Kankuro

Gaara set the note down and proceeded to opening the gift. He wasn't one to just rip the covers away; he carefully peeled the tape holding the folds down on one side and took out the box. He undid the flaps and there it was, presenting itself, the crystal-like sand faintly making the sand castle seem to sparkle from the setting sun. Gaara couldn't comprehend at first, though; what was this thing? He knew it was a sand castle, but why would his brother give him one? HOW could he, when lifting a sand castle off the sand is impossible? A few silly ideas entered his mind. Was it also Giving Someone A Sand Castle Day in Suna? Was Kankuro secretly an assassin using a Henge no Jutsu using the odd gift to distract him so he could attack?

Then it hit him.

He remembered his perspective of that day where he first bonded with Kankuro. He remembered Kankuro's half-curious, half-afraid expression when he checked out what was happening in his room. He remembered how Kankuro had the scary look on his face as he walked to the group of kids. He remembered watching his brother single-handedly defeat the seven guys that bad-mouthed him. He remembered bringing the castle home, then throwing it out months later. He remembered how his brother knocked on his door once a year, and the look on his face when he had threatened him to stop with his tradition. He remembered everything.

Kankuro watched closely as his brother's expression changed from shocked, to sad, to shocked again. He was half-afraid that Gaara would get mad at him for bringing back all the painful childhood memories. To his surprise, a single tear rolled down from the corner of Gaara's left eye, dropping onto the table. Kankuro was about to say something, to say he was sorry for everything, but Gaara spoke before he could.

"K-Kankuro... is this... what I think it is?"

Kankuro was unsure whether his brother was mad or not, so he thought about what to reply. He answered with a simple, "Yeah, it is."

Gaara returned to looking at the sand castle, which was still in the box. Seeing this was his opportunity to say what he wanted to say, Kankuro spoke:

"Look man, I'm really sorry about everything. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk to you in the past, when I should've been acting like a big brother. I'm sorry for breaking my promise, too. Remember that? I promised you that we'd hang out again, but we didn't. I... I was so guilty after that, knowing that you wouldn't have turned out like... like how you were in the past, if Temari and I acted like how we should've: siblings. Believe me, the guilt was overwhelming. That's why I kept leaving the sand castle outside your room, because I was too much of a coward to tell you that I just wanted to be brothers again. I thought that, that the sand castle would act as a symbol, you know." Gaara's eyes further widened; Kankuro continued. "When you finally opened the door – remember? You were twelve years old when you did – for a second I was so happy. I thought you've finally gotten the message I so badly wanted to tell you. But then you... the look on your face was... well, the guilt remained. I kept it after all these years 'cause I had faith in you, man, like I said in my letter. I-I'm just really sorry for everything. I've failed as your brother and..." Kankuro trailed off, closing his eyes, gritting his teeth and balling his hands into fists.

Silence fell over the two for what seemed like forever.

"Kankuro?"

Kankuro opened his eyes to find his brother staring at him, all traces of shock gone, save a little that was left in his eyes. There was also something else in there... affection?

"I'm sorry," Gaara said quietly.

"Sorry? Why are you saying sor –?"

"Let me finish," the Kazekage interrupted. "I'm sorry for not accepting your efforts in the past. If I just accepted you from the beginning, then maybe things would've been a lot less... lonely. The bond between us could've been stronger. But I simply ignored you, and for that, I'm sorry." He paused, and then continued. "And thank you, Kankuro. For not giving up on me even after I've shunned everyone from my life. You didn't fail me as my brother. You never did. And for that, I am grateful."

Kankuro took time in processing his brother's words, and then he finally smiled. Unexpectedly, so unexpected that Gaara seriously considered that he was dreaming, Kankuro pulled him into a hug.

Both knew and felt that the bond between them has become stronger.