Kankurou finally pushed the thoughts of the previous night out of his head and proceeded down stairs. The kitchen was oddly quiet, usually Temari and Gaara's evil voices could be heard from the stairs but the lack there of unnerved him. He entered the kitchen, his eyes greeted with Gaara and Temari quietly eating cereal. Kankurou grabbed the box and a bowl, pouring himself a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk. He sat at the large table, Temari on the end, and Gaara seated directly across from Kankurou. He looked from one sibling to the other as he shoveled a spoon full in his mouth, crunching. Temari's blue eyes and Gaara's aqua bore into him and he set his spoon down. As he dramatically cleared his throat, Temari cut him off "Cut the theatrics damn it! Kankurou that fucking puppet of yours is alive!"
Kankurou almost choked on the remains of the cereal in his mouth. This was an unexpected and unrealistic announcement made, and he couldn't suppress the smile that claimed his face. "you got to be kidding me?" He looked from Gaara to Temari, both not making any movements to prove his statement.
"Kankurou…before I was gonna burn the damn puppet, it looked at me…" Temari shivered from the memory, "that's when it shot me!" Her face a nice pale shade.
"Temari, you probably triggered a spring in his back that released it.." As he spoke, he knew it was bullshit. The recovered needle was a secret needle from Krow's left eye. It couldn't be released on a fluke for it had to have the familiarity of Kankuoru's chakra string to trigger the needle. It would only be released if used in a combo with…. Kankurou's eyes widened in surprise and he swiveled his gaze to Gaara. The needles given back from the medic nin was the five needles that were the rest of the combo. There was no way for them to spring out spontaneously as well as out of sequence. Kankurou chuckled to himself and thought 'get a hold of yourself! You are sounding crazy like those two. The blood lust must have got to their brains.. It is a relatively new attack I added' He shook his head and resumed eating before his cereal got soggy.
"Kankurou.." Gaara spoke finally, " Krow is alive.. He shot me with needles and then stood up…STOOD UP and got back on the dresser on his own accord.!" He seemed to hyperventilate as speaking.
"Why can't you just admit that you messed with Krow and released the needles Gaara? I know you have killed many people in your short lived years on this planet but Jesus fuckin Christ! You were a more believable psycho when you were killing and not making up stories."
Gaara winced at the words for although he was cruel to his brother, he would never forget that Kankurou was the first one to accept him back. He simply sat there looking at the cereal that was clearly soggy before he gave his brother a response. "That puppet will not remain in this house as long as I am Kazekage."
Those words hung in the air until a second later, Baki entered the kitchen. " we are running behind time guys! We have to leave if we are gonna make it in time for the party! You know Suna is atleast two days travel and that's at a quick pace. I expect you all to be ready to leave in 10 minutes!"
With that said, all three stood and went to their respective rooms to pack. Temari was excited for Shikamaru finally had called her and asked her to the dance. She was walking on sunshine when she came down to leave the mansion. Gaara had packed quickly and was down first. Kankuoru came down the stairs full of hope for the weapons mistress to accept his offer his scrolls packed firmly across his back while his stomach did belly flops in anticipation of the question to be asked and the response to come after. Temari and Gaara began shouting to Baki at the same time, making the vocalizations almost inaudible.
"Please children.. Speak one at a time! My patience does have boundaries you know?" He said as he poked his ear with a finger in hopes to clear out the garble echoing inside.
"He CAN'T take Krow!" Temari said almost pleading.
"That puppet is a killer! He attempted to assassinate the very own Kazekage!" Gaara howled.
"you can't be serious…" Baki sighed. "Krow is a simple puppet. I understand your apprehension on admitting that you messed with a trip wire and set the needle attacks. In Kankurou's defense, that is his weapon and if we, for any ungodly reason were to be attacked with a Shinobi improperly equipped, it would result in doom.." he took a breath and continued on before the protests could begin, "I suggest you stop scaring yourselves into believing that tripe, and get on with this celebration!"
Temari and Gaara knew it was all bullshit, for every one knew Baki was dating Anko and he was desperate to get to her as soon as he could. Both Temari and Gaara let out a defeated sigh and made sure to keep far away from Krow and Kankurou at all times.
After two days of rigorous travel, they finally reached Konaha village. It was always a lovely sight to behold, especially for Temari for outside the gate awaited the pineapple headed boy she loved. He looked mildly irritated but what was new with Shikamaru. Temari knew better than to act on her first impulse which was to jump and bound over to her lover and squeal like Sakura when she mooned over Sasuke. Instead, she strode over to him acting like her shit didn't stink. He stopped pretending to be irritated, replacing the look with interest. Temari noticed and linked hands with him. They headed off to the village hand in hand not looking back.
Kankurou extended a friendly greeting to the two Shinobi guards at the front gate. As soon as they were allowed in, Baki showed them to the rooms they would be staying at. Of course they were lavish rooms, for they were well respected members and it was only honorary to give the guests an incredibly warm greeting. Kankurou's room was across from Gaara's and as soon as he was done placing his personal items in his room, he opened the door to see Gaara's single eye peeking out his door right at him. As soon as Kankurou's brown eye spotted the aqua, the door slammed shut. He shrugged and continued on to the town. He had to find someone and he had to do it now before he lost the courage or the words to say.
He walked leisurely through the village. Smiling and waving to the Shinobi's. He kept his eyes peeled for any of Gai's team for if he was to see one member, that meant all were present and accounted for, and not away on any mission. He saw many nameless, faceless Shinobi that he had befriended. Many conversations ensued, and he didn't really know how hard it was to maintain what little popularity he had, so naturally after playing social butterfly, he was parched. He went to a small convenience store to purchase an ice cold Coke when it happened.
He had spent little time in the store, immediately locating the freezer where the soda was kept. He took time in selecting which bottle he was going to claim as his own. He took the coldest one he could find and proceeded to the check out counter when he passed the candy racks, displaying various wrappers of goodies and snacks galore. He paused and picked out a milky way midnight to compliment the Coke. Kankurou stepped to the check out counter when he was rudely cut off by a Shinobi with long hair. He had a smirk on his face as he knew he had cut Kankurou. Kankurou grunted in disapproval and muttered, 'Shit dude, if you were in that big a hurry then you deserve to go ahead of me.' The man in front of him turned around and eyed him up and down. Kankurou didn't like the looks of this guy, but recognized him from the chuunin exam when his own country tried to take down Konaha. Kankurou vaguely remembered his name, Genma. As soon as Genma was done purchasing a 24 pack of Coronitas (the little Coronas yey!) he turned and took a path that led him straight to Kankurou. As Kankurou took the steps forward to the counter, Genma looked him in the eye and coughed right in his face. The breath that emanated from that gaped mouth was foul, like sniffing the waste that collects in your intestine. Kankurou had weak gag reflex and this just about tested the limits. He heard the bell from the door chime, symbolizing Genma's departure from the store. The clerk looked down at Kankurou and asked, "What did you do to piss that guy off?"
Kankurou shrugged, trying to compose himself and his trembling stomach. He handed the guy the cash and booked it. He didn't care about the coin change he was to receive, he just needed fresh air to dispel the stench that was clogged in his nostril. He gulped the soda down and ate the candy bar with record time. It seemed his stomach was ok, but fuck dude, why did Genma treat him that way, seriously what the fuck did he do to warrant that behavior? Nothing really, I mean, he did let the guy cut him in line and all. And Christ, what the fuck did he have for lunch to make his breath smell so raunch?!
Kankurou wandered around the village, taking in the sights he had seen many a times before. He didn't really have a close friend in the village so he resigned to sit under a tree and relax. The dance was tomorrow and time was ebbing away. He silently struggled with ideas of where the Kunoichi could be. Of course he really didn't know much about her but that was all the point of dating right? To get to know someone.
When he decided to trek on in search, he ran into none other but the loud mouth dattebayo spouting Naruto himself. Of course both were glad to see each other and were displaying it. Naruto clapped Kankurou on the back and grinned sheepishly. They extended greeting and on the verge of a bullshitting session when Kankurou eyed an annoyed looking Sakura.
"Oh.. Hay Sakura.." Kankurou said apprehensively.
The bad mood disappeared upon the recognition. A smile lit the pink haired Kunoichi's face as she waved a slender hand in the air, "hi Kankurou" she said happily enough as she wound an arm around Naruto's shoulder. Naruto's blue eyes lit up and he grinned ear to ear as dawning drew on Kankurou's face. He didn't know they had finally hooked up and Kankurou, from that point on held his reservations on whether she thought of Sasuke when she slept with Naruto. He resigned to never know the answer and that suited him just fine. Not really knowing what to say he grinned and rubbed the back of the cat hat always mounted on his mound of brown hair and spoke pleasantly, "I didn't know you two were together?"
Sakura looked eager to answer and thus replied, "yep. For almost 4 months now."
"doesn't that make missions extra strenuous? I mean you now have to take extra precaution?" Kankurou couldn't imagine a love one as a team member.
Naruto answered for Sakura, "Kankurou, its obvious you have never been hit by my lady here." His hand pointed to the girl who oozed femininity, and she smiled and waved innocently. Kankurou wasn't really fooled by the innocent act, he knew all to well that her as well as the elder of Suna had taken down the greatest puppet master to live, Akatsuki member Sasori.
"You goin to the dance Kankurou?" Sakura asked imploringly. Her green eyes were ablaze with curiosity.
"well.. Pretty much so."
" who are you going with?" Sakura giggled after asking, a girl will always be a girl, loving to divulge in gossip.
Kankurou looked a little uncomfortable for he hadn't really asked his candidate yet. All in all he figured that maybe Sakura and Naruto could direct him to the place to find Tenten. " well I wanted to ask Tenten if she wouldn't mind going with me.." He was about to blush at how truthful he was being when he noticed the darkened look exchanged on their faces. He wasn't in complete understanding when Sakura spoke up, almost expert like.
"Kankurou " she started delicately. It wasn't like she was worried for hurting his feelings but she'd rather do it than feel rejection from the Kunoichi that was obsessed, "Tenten is kind of…preoccupied right now.. She has a lot going on.. She said she wasn't even sure if she was going to attend the dance…" She felt sorry to dash his dreams, but to her surprise, her words seemed to not affect him at all.
"no matter, I would still like to ask her.. Maybe she would like to take her mind off of things and have fun. I'll never know 'til I try."