Note: Yakiniku is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes. Source: Google. :)


Temari slid open the door of the kitchen and went to the living room, Kankuro close behind her. They found Gaara sitting on the couch, still reading the history book. He looked up as soon as his siblings entered the room.

"I assume that you two are done?" he said.

"Yeah," the two older siblings replied.

"Alright, bring them in."

"Hold on," Temari said suddenly. "You might be biased, so we'll have to blindfold you first before bringing our cookies in." Hearing this, Kankuro cracked a smile.

Gaara's brows furrowed, obviously not pleased by the thought of being blindfolded. "No," he replied bluntly.

"C'mon Gaara, you'll be blind for only about a minute," Kankuro joined in.

Gaara didn't say anything. He just stared at his siblings. Had they not improved their bonds, Temari would be frozen and holding her breath under his stare, while Kankuro would mutter "brat" in his mind. Kankuro, in his mind, randomly thanked Uzumaki Naruto for transforming Gaara to the better person he is now.

"Get blindfolded, or we won't let you taste our cookies," Temari broke the silence.

'Nice one, Temari,' Kankuro thought. 'Gaara'll give in to that.'

True enough, the redhead did. "Fine. But speak of this to no one."

The two older siblings went back to the kitchen, trying to keep from laughing out loud. They always found it funny that Gaara can be so easily manipulated by a pastry. It wasn't funny if Gaara caught them laughing, though. It would be painful. They each took their respective trays and headed for the living room again. "Mine will go first," Temari mouthed to Kankuro. He nodded.

They set down their trays on the table, and Kankuro raced up the stairs to get a blindfold. He was back seconds later, a piece of black cloth in his hand. Gaara eyed it with annoyance, like how an adult would look a child having a tantrum. "Here we go, Gaara," Kankuro said as he came nearer to him. He had the blindfold stretched and ready to be tied. With a grunt, Gaara leaned forward a little, letting Kankuro tie the blindfold, securing it with a tight knot.

"No using your Third Eye," he joked. Temari hit him in the arm, giving him a shut-up-or-Gaara-will-get-pissed look while doing so.

"Alright," Temari said before Gaara could comment on Kankuro's joke, "get ready for the first cookie!" She chose the least-bulkiest-looking cookie from her batch, and put it into Gaara's waiting mouth. He took a bite and chewed it- loud, cracking sounds sounded in the process. Temari frowned, remembering Kankuro's comment on how hard it was to chew. Gaara finally swallowed. A full minute of silence passed.

"Do you have any comment on it, Gaara?" Temari asked.

"Next," was all Gaara said, and opened his mouth once more.

Kankuro grinned, took a cookie from his batch, and did the same procedure Temari did. Gaara chewed and swallowed once more. "Well Gaara, what do you think?" Kankuro asked.

Slowly, Gaara untied the blindfold and looked at his siblings. They looked at him with questioning looks.

"I didn't like them. Not one bit," he said impassively.

Temari sighed. "Oh." She expected his answer, but she didn't like it when he actually said it. She mentally promised herself that she would exercise her skills in baking. Maybe next time, she'd beat Kankuro in another baking contest.

"What're we gonna do with these?" Kankuro looked at their cookies in despair. He definitely didn't want them in the fridge for the next few days. They didn't taste good, he knew, and he didn't want being forced by Temari to finish them.

"I'll take care of them," Gaara said simply, not minding the semi-shocked stares his siblings gave him after he said it.

"Oh, well that's very kind of you, Gaara," Temari said. She turned to Kankuro and sighed. "I guess none of us wins. What a waste of time and effort!"

"I know," Kankuro agreed. "Well... wanna spar in the training area?"

"Sure," Temari replied. "Now there's something I can beat you in."

"Ch."

The two older siblings headed for the door. "We'll be back before dark, Gaara," Temari called out before closing the door.

Gaara sat there with his eyes closed, and waited a full ten minutes before moving again. He made sure that his siblings were well off at the training grounds, that they didn't forget anything and have to come back to find him eating their cookies...


"Since when were you so good in substitution jutsus, Kankuro?" Temari asked him as she opened the door to their house. She was surprised at how much her brother had improved over the last few weeks.

"Heh, since I started training harder than you," Kankuro replied smugly.

"Ch, whatever," Temari replied, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Hm?"

The living room was completely dark, leaving them to rely on their heightened senses to navigate themselves around the area. Kankuro finally felt the light switch and turned it on. The living room looked neat and orderly; nothing out of place. Except...

Temari realized that Gaara was not in the room. "Odd," she said, speaking her thoughts, "Gaara usually stays downstairs and waits for us to get home."

Kankuro was just about to suggest that maybe their brother left as well, when he felt Gaara's chakra radiating from upstairs. His brotherly instincts started to kick in.

"I'll go see what's wrong with him," Temari informed Kankuro, and headed upstairs.

'Temari's sisterly instincts are kicking in, too,' Kankuro thought as he watched her climb the flight of stairs.

She stopped in front of Gaara's door, and prepared herself before knocking. 'This is it, Temari. This is your chance to finally become a true older sister to Gaara.'

She knocked three times on his door. "Gaara? May I come in?"

"No," Gaara's voice sounded from inside. Temari sighed.

"What's wrong? Did something happen while we were gone?"

"...No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Temari racked her brain for something a good sister would say. "Well, okay. Kankuro and I will be downstairs if you need us." Stupid! That's not something a good sister would say!'

Sighing once more at how pathetic her attempt was to become a good sibling, Temari turned and descended the stairs. "So what's wrong with him?" Kankuro's voice sounded from the kitchen.

Temari entered and found her brother snacking on yakiniku. She leaned on the counter and said, "He won't tell me."

"Aw, that's okay. The guy's in the age of adolescence. I'm sure he'll tell us soon enough."

'Maybe you, but not me,' what was Temari wanted to say. Ever since Kankuro got closer to Gaara, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She didn't want to admit it, though. It wasn't like her to do such things. "Hope so. Well, since I'm not hungry and you just finished our yakiniku, there's no need for me to cook. I'm going to take a shower, then go to bed." She turned and left.


Temari set her cup on the kotatsu table with a little more force than necessary. Kankuro stared at her, anticipating her outburst.

"That's it. It's been four days and Gaara has not set foot outside of his room. I'm going to tear his door down once I'm finished with breakfast."

Kankuro sighed. It was very Temari of her to say that. "You serious? Gaara gets pissed when we enter without his permission."

"But he hasn't left his room since four days ago! He hasn't eaten a thing! I'm sure 'cause I haven't felt his chakra outside his room."

Kankuro wanted to protest, but he too was worried for Gaara. Yes, he knew Temari was worried for their brother. "Alright. I guess we have a valid reason why we should tear his door down."

After breakfast, the two went to stand in front of Gaara's door. Kankuro knocked three times. "Gaara, tell us what's wrong."

A minute of silence. And then: "No."

"Gaara, we're your siblings. You can tell us what's wrong," Temari joined in. 'Why didn't I say that four days ago?'

"...Both of you promise you won't laugh?"

Both Temari and Kankuro were puzzled by his reply. "Of course not," Kankuro answered. "What would we laugh at?"

"Open the door, and you'll see."

They heard sound of moving sand as Gaara commanded it to unlock the door. Temari twisted the knob and opened the door to its limit. "G-G-Gaara?" From behind her, she heard Kankuro gasp audibly. "W-what happened to you?"


Author's Note: Chapter 3 is OUT! Well, this story has a bit of drama involved, as seen when Temari wanted to reach out to Gaara, but wasn't able to. Hmm. Anyways, sorry for not updating on a daily basis. I really hope you guys like this one! :D Maybe one more chapter 'til the sequel. :