Chapter 2: Shiner

Kankuro swung the 50-lb bag of potting soil into the back of the truck with a grunt. It landed with a thud. He wiped sweat from his forehead and grabbed another bag, his back and shoulders groaning from the fight and the work combined. It was mid morning, and the sun was beating relentlessly down on the warehouse yard. Sweat poured from the other workers as they hefted, swung and heaved their heavy loads onto trucks or wooden flats.

"Sabaku!"

Kankuro turned, the sun blaring blindingly into his eyes. The black silouette of his boss was stamping towards him at an alarming rate.

"Yes, Mr. Yakushi?" he asked warily, straitening up. His boss stamped right up to him, glowering from under his the bowler hat slammed over his tufts of greasy brown hair at him. He barely reached Kankuro's chin.

"I think you know what," he growled. Kankuro blinked.

There was a silence. A gentle breeze sent the open halves of Kankuro's shirt flapping; the white undershirt was already soaked through with sweat.

"What's with the face job?!" his boss exploded, stamping his foot. "You know, it ain't easy to maintain a good image in this part of town, and employees showing up with their faces smashed in doesn't help!"

Kankuro winced. Darnit.

"I'm sorry about the er… shiner, Mr. Yakushi," he said. "It won't happen—"

"Like heck!" Kabuto Yakushi yelled, balling his fist. "You come in with a black eye every darn week!"

That's because I'm a boxer, Kankuro thought irritably. Instead, he nodded penitently.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yakushi."

"We're the most reputable place in the neighborhood!" Kabuto fumed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yakushi."

"I've got a darned image to maintain!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yakushi…"

"No more!" Kabuto Yakushi snapped suddenly. "One more face job, and you're out of a job!"

Kankuro stared at him.

"But I don't—" he started saying. Kabuto held up a hand.

"No if's, and's or but's!" he said shortly. "That's it."

With that, he stomped off. Kankuro stared at the ground, shocked. Kabuto had never given him that kind of ultimatum before; this was bad. Really bad. His hands hung by his sides in fists.

I can't stop, Kankuro thought furiously. I am notgoing to quit boxing for some stuffed shirt!

He slammed his fist into the side of the truck. The sun baked metal seared his hand, but Kankuro barely felt it. Hot rage was swelling up inside him. He loved boxing more than anything it seemed—and to give that up, for some job…

"Darnit!" he growled, grabbing another bag of potting soil and slamming it into the truck. He really needed the money. The rent was tight as it was, and this was Gaara's second term out of school. He couldn't ask his younger brother to keep working to help pay the rent. He couldn't ask Gaara to quit school for good at 16. Temari already worked her hands to the bone, and if he got fired…

He threw the bags of potting soil into the truck with all his might. One after the other, they slammed into the interior, sending up clouds of dirt.

Never quit.

Slam! The bags fell heavily onto the trucks bottom.

Never quit.

***

Dingdingding!

"Round One!" Genma yelled, throwing his arms wide. "Hidan versus our returning champion…" He drew a huge breath. The crowd was cheering and stomping.

"SABAKU NO KANKURO!"

The crowd sent up a rousing cheer. Hidan waved, grinning and running a hand through his slicked hair. Kankuro raised a fist halfheartedly. Both men had stripped down to their jeans and bandaged their fists.

"Nice farmer's tan," Hidan muttered a wicked grin on his aquiline face.

Kankuro glanced at his shoulder.

"It's a bruise," he said seriously.

Hidan gave a laugh and started bouncing on the balls of his bare feet, jabbing his fists into the air. Kankuro clenched his fists, feeling the calluses on his palms rub against the sweaty bandages.

"And they're off!" Genma yelled for good measure, swinging acrobatically out of the ring.

"That's horse racing, man!" Hidan said, shaking out his arms, head thrown back. "Woohoo!"

Hidan lunged in, his fists slamming again and again into Kankuro's blocks. The crowd bellowed and hollered. Kankuro clenched his teeth as the lighter boxer sent blow after blow whipping into him.

"LET HIM HAVE IT!" someone yelled.

Kankuro grunted as Hidan's lightning-fast punches ripped into him. He jogged back, arms raised, trying to dodge. Hidan was right on top of him, eyes wide, a huge grin splitting his finely cut features.

"Not even gonna land one punch?" Hidan yelled, catching him right below the ribcage. "I'm insulted!"

Kankuro gasped and fell back against the ropes. A huge swell of roars came from the crowd; a smashed beer can landed on the tarp.

"Darnit!" he grunted.

Hidan had skipped back and was bouncing from foot to foot, fists raised.

"Yo Sabaku!" he jeered. "I'm getting lonely out here!"

Kankuro spit blood onto the filthy tarp mat. He raised his head slightly and looked at Hidan through his shaggy brown hair. The other boxer was laughing again, jabbing his fists out in front of him.

"I'm all yours," he growled.

He pushed himself from the ropes and lunged at Hidan. Kankuro swung his fists hard, pounding them relentlessly.

Caught unaware, Hidan took a hard hit to the side and stumbled back, blocking clumsily. Kankuro's right hook came light a lightning bold, smashing a devastating uppercut into Hidan's jaw.

Hidan was thrown back against the ropes, slipped down and landed hard on the mat, breathing in gasps. The crowd screamed. Kankuro stepped back and shook out his thick arms. Hidan was fast, but he was no match for Kankuro's raw power. Landscaping, he thought bleakly, I guess it does have an upside.

"And he's DOWN, folks, Hidan is DOWN!" Genma yelled, swinging over the ropes beside the fallen boxer. Hidan grabbed the ropes with one hand, trying to raise himself. He slipped back, his head connecting hard with the mat. He groaned.

"Do I need to start COUNTING?" Genma yelled enthusiastically. The crowd roared and threw their trash. Kankuro grinned. Genma was so unprofessional it wasn't even funny, but then again, they weren't anywhere close to a professional league, and, well… it was sort of funny.

"Shut up you—" Hidan's words—presumably filthy ones—were cut off as the crowd roared its approval.

"ONE!" Genma shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

"Will you shut up?!" Hidan yelled, grabbing at the ropes clumsily. Genma ignored him.

"TWO!" the whole crowd chanted with him. Kankuro blinked sweat out of his eyes.

"DARN YOU!" Hidan yelled, pulling himself to his feet. He stood there, panting, the ropes stretching as he leaned back against them for support.

"Game on!" Genma said innocently, swinging back over the ropes. Kankuro grinned to himself and raised his fists. Hidan coughed and stumbled back out into the ring, blinking hard and shaking himself. The smile had vanished from his proudly cut features.

"Darnit, Sabaku," he spat. "You pumping iron these days or something?"

"Landscaping," Kankuro said with a grin. He bounced on the balls of his bare feet, circling his opponent, fists raised. Hidan just looked at him. Then suddenly, he threw back his head and laughed.

"That was some uppercut, Sabaku!" he howled, bouncing around him and jabbing with his fists. "But how's your stamina? Woohooo!"

Fists pounding, feet stomping and shuffling, sweat pouring off their bruised backs, the two fighters went at it.

Temari ran a hand through her coarse blonde hair, her blue eyes bright with intensity. She watched Hidan and her brother as they fought their way back and forth, grunting and punching, sweat and blood dripping onto the tarp. She clenched her fists.

Darn, was she glad Hidan was getting served—or at least, mostly. The two were pretty evenly matched. The slenderer, faster Hidan had barely made it to the heavyweight section of their little league, but since they had had only two others and he could more than hold his own, he was in. He was more than in, Temari thought bitterly, he was doing darned well.

She clenched her teeth as Hidan barely missed her brother's jaw. The crowd yelled out a few derogatory remarks about Hidan's aim.

Temari thought back on their conversation two nights before. Kankuro had never had a good poker face; she was worried about his job. He didn't much like it, she knew, and it didn't pay nearly well enough to make the long hours worth it, but they were all hard up on cash. And if he lost this one… Temari shuddered, closing her eyes against the dark, smoky room. She leaned back against the metal folding chair.

DING!

Genma swung into the ring.

"That ties up Round One!" he hollered. Hidan saluted to his opponent with a wink and jogged to his corner. Kankuro trudged to his, where Baki was waiting, sitting back on his heels, a huge grin on his tattoo-covered face.

"I thought you was gonna have him right there in the first round!" he said with a toothy grin. "Sure hit him hard enough!"

Kankuro fell onto the stool, squirting water over his face.

"He's too fast," he panted. "That was the only chance he gave me."

"Ah, quit yer whining," Baki said good-naturedly, pressing his steel plate on Kankuro's cheekbone. He winced, arching his back and the cold metal smashed down on his bruised skin.

"I can't get another shiner," he said between clenched teeth. Baki's eyes flicked up at him briefly as he reached for the Vaseline.

"Trouble at work?" he asked, smearing the gel over his brow bone. Kankuro gritted his teeth.

"Listen," Baki said, suddenly serious. "Next time you get any opening, you smash his face into next week."

Kankuro stared at him.

"Isn't it a little early for a knockout…?"

A crease appeared between Baki's eyebrows. He slid the steel plate lower on Kankuro's jaw absently.

"You've got the power for it, kiddo," he said. "Hidan will break your face with those left jabs, but if you can get a knockout now, you can go to work with half a face tomorrow."

Kankuro hesitated, looking over his friend's shoulder to where Hidan sat, grinning and talking energetically to his coach, the black haired, stoop-shouldered Kakuzu. The older man was wearing a sour expression, unceremoniously slapping ice and steel plates on Hidan's finely cut features.

"What side?" Kankuro said in a low voice. Baki grinned at him again, tattooed face wrinkling in a thousand lines.

"Now yer talking!" he crowed. "Nothing like a little unemployment to get fights around here more exciting!"

Kankuro squirted water over his sweaty face.

"As if we needed it," he grumbled, kicking away a crushed Pepsi can that had landed on the tarp.

Baki grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Well, you know, you're the slow and steady type," he commented, catching the water bottle Kankuro tossed to him. "I don't think you've ever gone less than nine rounds, eh?"

"I went seven on Wednesday, you know," Kankuro said with a half-grin. He loped out into the center of the ring.

"Sabaku!" Baki yelled at him over the renewed din of the crowd. He turned around. Baki grinned at him and gave him the thumbs up.

"Right side!" he said. Kankuro nodded.

Genma swung over the ropes, chewing a toothpick.

"Okay, fellas," he shouted, his voice slightly hoarse, "Time for round two!" The crowd sent up a rousing cheer. Kankuro shook out his arms, head back and eyes closed, readying himself for the next round. This wasn't going to be easy. He had never swung a knockout in the second round; heck, he barely ever swung them at all.

Hidan sprang into the center of the ring, jogging in place, his slicked-back hair shining under the smoky lights.

Kankuro raised his fists slowly, watching his opponent. He had to take the first opening Hidan gave him, and swing as hard as he could, as fast as he could. Unfortunately, Hidan barely ever left himself open. He was just too darned fast.

Dingdingding!

"GO!" Genma yelled, swinging over the ropes again. The crowd stomped and yelled, filling the low-ceilinged room with their noise. Kankuro shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, fists above his chin, ready.

"Time to really get going!" Hidan yelled, eyes wild. Then he was off. His fists swung out, again and again, jabbing light lightening.

The crowd roared.

Kankuro gritted his teeth as Hidan's fists slammed into his side, over and over again. He skittered backwards, hunched forward, fists raised. Hidan's fists hit him over and over again, leaving red marks on impact and sending sweat drops flying.

"Congratulations, Sabaku!" Hidan cried, eyes wild. "You just got me really angry at you!" Kankuro threw up his arms and reeled back as Hidan sent three smashing blows into his ribcage. He hit the ropes, swinging over the edge of the ring.

"That's right," Hidan spat, jogging back. Kankuro hung there on the ropes, mute with pain, teeth clenched. He could hear his heart thumping in his head, drowning out the frenzied cheering of the crowd.

Hidan raised his fists. He bounced on the balls of his feet, crisscrossing them, back and forth, back and forth. Kankuro straitened painfully, heaving shuddering breaths between his teeth.

"Any day now," Hidan said. His eyes were set like flint, all traces of his earlier humor gone.

Kankuro glance back at his corner. Baki was watching Hidan with round, alert eyes. Now or never.

With a roar, Kankuro threw himself into the ring, fists slamming into his opponents body. Hidan raised his arms and reeled back, missing a left uppercut. Kankuro slammed his fists over and over, driving Hidan back towards the corner.

"Darn you!" Hidan grunted, his fist clipping Kankuro's shoulder.

Then Kankuro saw his opening.

He swung his right fist into the side of Hidan's face, smashing into his jaw. Hidan roared in pain and stumbled to the left, dropping his arms momentarily.

Bingo.

Kankuro brought his left fist smashing up against Hidan's lower jaw as hard as he could. His fist slammed into his opponent's face. Hidan's head cranked around sickeningly, his arms flying up in helplessness. That was when Kankuro's right jab smashed right into his forehead. Hidan's head snapped back on impact. His arms flailed. He fell back against the corner and slid to the ground, unconcious.

The room was dead quiet.

Kankuro stumbled back, hands on knees, the sweat dripping off his face onto the tarp. He heaved breaths, his head pounding.

Genma almost tripped as he scrambled over the ropes into the ring. He looked from the unconcious Hidan to Kankuro, eyes wide.

"Holey goodness…" he breathed.

Kankuro shut his eyes against the salty sweat. His side was searing in pain.

Genma removed the toothpick from his mouth slowly. He turned and looked at the crowd. Then, he threw up his arms.

"KANKURO WINS!" he yelled.

The crowd errupted. The cheering was deafening; empty bottles and popcorn cartons flew through the air. The floor shook with the stomping.

"KANKURO WINS!" Genma was yelling. "KANKURO WINS!"

The crowd went wild. They screamed and hooted, jumping from their metal folding chairs.

Kankuro screwed up his eyes in pain. Someone thrust a water bottle into his hands.

"That was some move, kiddo!" Baki was yelling in his ear. "That was some move!"