a/n: I think that first chapter turned out well. Not sure. But when I read it to my friend, she said it "left her in wanton anticipation of what Gaara-kun would discover about his magnificent body". I assume that's praise.

haha.

Any who, enjoy chapter two lovlies.

Chapter 2; Conversation

"Kankuro…" Gaara started, dropping his head to look at his hands fumbling in the duvet. He felt that heat come back to his face, this time, denoting his embarrassment. He wanted to be blunt with his feeling, just as he normally was with Temari. He willed himself to look at his brother and express his concern. However, an unknown force drove him to keep his head down and to keep fidgeting.

After several minutes of silence, Kankuro sat, perplexed, on the edge of Gaara's bed. Said male had his head down, cheeks stained, and hands fumbling. Kankuro knew that his brother was embarrassed to talk to him but the idea of it made him chuckle. His stoic little brother, Sabaku no Gaara, was nervous to talk to him. A few years ago, a simple misstep in conversation with Gaara might have gotten him killed. Now, the kid was asking for advice like it was second nature to him.

The irony of it all.

"Don't worry, Gaara. You can tell me anything," he gave Gaara a reassuring smile as the boy's head snapped up to look for the truth in those words. The green of his bother's eyes always made Kankuro a bit uneasy. It was as if you were to stare in them too long, you might lose your soul. But this morning, there was reservation in those eerie green orbs. And the cat-eared nin felt the need to ease his brother's troubles. He smiled again, revealing his teeth, as to encourage his brother to trust him.

This time, it was a few seconds. He felt his brother shift his legs under the sheets of his bed and clear his throat in preparation to talk. After searching for his confidence and finding it again, Gaara nodded and began explaining.

"I've had a new type of feeling. It's unlike anything I've felt before, so overwhelming and strong. I can't shake the idea that it's weird. Strange for me to have this feeling. I can't- " he trailed off, losing himself in the many ways he could describe it., "Can't understand it at all. I was hoping that you could give me some insight on this matter."

Kankuro rose his hand to scratch the top of his brunette mop

"Well, isn't that more big sis' area? I'm no good with emotions and such."

"No!. Gaara whispered with exasperation, "I would talk to her about it but...for some reason, I can't. Every time I think of discussing it with her I get embarrassed and some...twisted force keeps me from divulging my feelings to her." his nose crinkled in frustration, looking into Kankuro's peaceful brown eyes. "In addition, this feeling is much more...physical than emotional."

The confession was news to Kankuro, but he kept it to himself. What could be so embarrassing that he couldn't talk to Temari about it? To his knowledge, everything that Gaara had epxperienced of late had been internal and emotional, not external and physical. Perphas he was the better one to deal with this mess. Kankuro gave an inner shrug and figured he'd find out soon enough. Might as well try to help in the best way he knew how. Physicality was his forte, after all.

"Physical, you say? Well, I think I'll be able to help with that. Spill it, little bro'."

"Well...lately I've been having these sensations in my body when I touch things. Like the sheets, or how my clothes brush my skin, or how something smells. It causes my breath to shorten, my pulse to quicken, my mind to cloud. And I would think it was something that was normal if it didn't occur at all times of the day. It's uncontrollable..." Gaara said in a rush, feeling his hairless brow cringe in frustration. He then detailed the events of the morning to his brother as stubble as he knew how. After a few minutes, the flush on his brother's cheeks told him that he needed to work on his verbal subtly.

Kankuro's eyes widened with realization at his little brother explained his predicament. Just because his little brother was the Monster of the Desert didn't mean he was immune to puberty. The same feeling had plagued him when he was fifteen too. And probably every other fifteen year old boy in existence. He could have done without the tale of the groping sand and shaky breaths, but still, he understood.

Gaara was pubescent and horny and didn't know it.

He laughed a genuine laugh, earning an irritated glare from his brother. After a few minutes of cracking up, Kankuro yielded and decided to spare his little brother of his fictitious misery.

"Gaara," he began, trying to compose himself, "...there isn't anything abnormal about you having these reactions. You're pubescent as a fifteen year old boy. I'm sure you're familiar with-thanks to the Academy and well...me-the act of sex," the redhead nodded with a grim expression at his brother's question, recollecting Kankuro's tales of "ass-snatching". Kankuro felt his cheeks burn and brushed it off with a nervous chuckle in order to continue, "Anyway...well, usually to feel the urge to engage in sexual activity, one has to become aroused in a sexual way."

Aroused.

So that's what this was? Arousal...sexual arousal?

He knew all about the physiology of men and women and their mating techniques from his studies. Males and females became aroused, releasing pheromones that entice their partner to intercourse. If he decided to wander around the village a night when he couldn't sleep, he'd often hear the...plesantries that came with human sexual activities. Although he'd always thought the practice beyond him. Especially with the likes of a woman. Gaara'd always had an aversion to fragility.

Kankuro was explaining wildly using hand gestures and exaggerated examples when Gaara interrupted him.

"Sexually aroused? By the sensation of fabric and water on my skin? Is such a thing possible? Aren't those sensations reserved for another human being?"

"Yes, of course. To both points. Listen up!" Kankuro lifted his finger in a matter-of-fact kind of way and continued.

"It's perfectly natural for you to react to stimuli that is not sentient. Everybody has different points of sensitivity on their body and because you've never experienced true physical contact with most anything, you are hypersensitive to everything. That, and the fact that you're a fifteen year old boy. Puberty does that to you. Your hormones are out of control and even the smallest touch can send you into a fit of arousal." he concluded in that same tone.

Gaara nodded in agreement as his brother offered him further clarity. That was exactly what was happening to him. He was aroused by the way things felt on his skin. He enjoyed being...caressed. Being touched. The thought brought the now familiar feelings of heat back to the surface of his skin.

Kankuro continued. "You'll also eventually have these feeling toward another person, or even several other people. From touching or even looking at them depending on your level of attraction to them." Gaara's brows furrowed at that.

He could feel those same sensations from touching another person?

From simply looking at them?

"Have you ever experienced those sensations when thinking about another person, bro'?"

Had he ever? Of that, he was highly doubtful. There were few things in life Gaara found attractive, and other people were not one of them.

Still, the redheaded Kage traced through the faces in his repertoire, trying to connect these feelings with a physical being. Gaara prided himself in being able to remember every face, name, and frame that he came across. It helped immensely with diplomatic relations but unfortunately not in this situation. No face that he remembered off of the top of his head made that rush of sensation flow back to him. Feeling oddly disappointed, Gaara looked at his brother with a frown.

"No. I have not.",came his all but silent reply. He wanted some to touch him...and he wanted to touch someone else. He could only imagine the sensations that flesh on flesh may incite in him. For some reason, it both terrified and thrilled him. It was a curious notion, but if simple touching could elicit these types of pleasant feelings in his body, he wanted to see how far it would go in himself.

But more so how far he could make it go in someone else. That's what really thrilled him.

Kankuro leaned back, lightly clasping his hand on his brother's shoulder to reassure him. Gaara noticed how warm his bother's large palm was on his shoulder. Looking down at it, he tried to focus on how it made him feel, what sensations he felt. It wasn't at all like those of arousal he's just discovered. It was more like a constant warmth. Comforting, reassuring.

"Gaara, it's alright. You'll develop in time. You can't expect everything that you've missed out on will happen all at once."

Gaara nodded once more. "Kankuro, when you touch me, I don't feel those same sensations. It's more like an idle warmth. What is that?"

His brother chuckled. "That's love, little brother. From me to you and you to me."

Gaara smiled at that. He'd thought that's what it was.

"And, it's good that you don't feel those feelings toward me, I'm your sibling. And I'm a guy."

In turn, Gaara frowned at that.

"Is it unnatural for men to desire men, or for women to desire women?"

Kankuro blushed at his careless comment, immediately working to correct it before Gaara's turbulent brian made something of it.

"Ah, no, little brother. It's not unnatural. Well, for me it is, because I like women. But don't think it's weird if the person you end up feeling attracted to is a man. Feeling is feeling, no matter who it is. Except for siblings!"

Gaara's head drooped on his pale shoulders in defeat. Feeling the heavy rise and fall of his brother's last breath, he could tell it was a sigh of defeat. Kankuro turned back to face the door, chuckling at his brother's innocence.

Gaara was so much more complex now that he had normal emotions. Easier to navigate, though.

He idly felt the shift of weight signifying his brothers attempt to get out of bed. Assuming that under all those sheets, Gaara slept bare like most Suna residents in the summer, he took that as his cue to leave. "Anything else, bro?" Stretching his arms above his head with a grunt, Kankuro stood on stiff legs and moved to the stream of artificial light that denoted the hallway. Hearing no answer from Gaara, he assumed that was a no on the further question thing. On his way out, however, Gaara called after him with one final question.

"How will I know that the person arouses me?"

Kankuro smirked, rounding the corner to look down the vast hallway. The fluorescent lights were evenly spaced down the hall and he could faintly make out frantic attendants rushing down the hall in order to fetch his brother. The Leaf nin must have arrived earlier than expected. Kankuro turned in the opposite direction and begin his silent journey to kitchen He shoved his hands into his pockets, and shook his head. Deciding it would be fun to see his mature little bother frustration by the machinations of the pubescent male body, he refrained from providing a lengthy response. Instead, he offered:

"Trust me, little brother, you'll just know."