XxpuppetmasterxX and LilMzSunshine

Chapter 4: The Honeymoon (if you could call it that.)

One of the best things about marriage is that it gets young people to bed at a decent hour.

— M. M. Musselman

Hinata decided to stay up as late as humanly possible, which was made easy because of a sudden flash of inspiration.

"Um..." Kankuro fidgeted after an hour or so. "Could I maybe... get online for a while?"

Hinata blushed. "Um, could you wa–," she shook her head as if reproving herself. "I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Kankuro had never met someone so incapable of standing up for herself in his life. He missed Temari. You didn't have to be polite to Temari. "Finish what you're doing. I'm not in a hurry."

New Chapter from LilMzSunshine

Story: Matchmaker Matchmaker

Chapter 2: Tying Knots

Kankuro liked the internet. He had discovered it as a haven as a young boy dealing with an overpowering brother and an unsympathetic community. Online he was liked, well liked, even somewhat famous. He had friends, he was accepted. Life had gotten a lot better at home recently, but now, when he needed it, the internet was still there, still his haven, where his sister could type out terse replies to his angst on her cell phone on the road back to Suna, where LilMzSunshine had miraculously appeared to help him through this transition.

He was in a very decent, almost good mood when he finally turned off the computer and worked his way to his room, trying not to turn on too many lights, since he was the last one to go to bed.

Hinata awoke when someone stepped on her head. "AH! What the hell!?"

Kankuro yelped and jumped backwards. "The hell are you doing lying on the floor?"

"I was sleeping," Hinata groaned, sitting up blearily.

"On the floor?" Kankuro asked, flipping on the lights and making both of them blink.

"Yes, on the floor," she said, stretching out the kinks in her back. "So you could have the bed."

"You didn't have to do that," he told her guiltily.

Hinata shrugged. "I don't mind." Actually, she would rather sleep on the floor. The less physical contact she had with him, she thought, the better.

"I'm not letting you spend the night on the floor. Your cousin might murder me," Kankuro laughed. "Come on, get up," he said, wrapping a few chakra threads around her limbs and pulling her to to her feet.

Hinata panicked as her arms and legs began moving on their own, controlled by the thin tendrils of light that ended at Kankuro's fingertips. He twitched his index finger, and she was forced to take a step towards him.

Kankuro was puzzled as Hinata began shivering. Hadn't they been getting along for a few seconds there? Having a conversation, even? He tightened his control over her muscles until the quaking stopped.

Hinata fought back tears. Neji had lied, she would have no choice, after all, wouldn't even be allowed to move while he—,

Kankuro released the threads quickly when she started to sob. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, bewildered by the behavior of this easily-threatened creature.

"Please— please don't—," she choked out brokenly, taking two steps back as he took a step towards her.

Kankuro was a little hurt. He hadn't done anything to this girl and yet she was in tears! (Meanwhile, she got on well with Neji, and Kankuro had seen him try to literally murder her.) "Calm down," he pleaded.

"Please, don't do this, not now," she whimpered. She was out of room to back away; Kankuro caught her and held her against his chest, the way Temari would hold him and Gaara when they were little and upset.

"Shh, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Please, I'm not ready for this," she managed, breathing quickly.

It took Kankuro a moment to realize what she was talking about, but, to give him some credit, when it finally sunk in he was possibly more horrified than she was. "Wait, you think I'm going to—," he shuddered and let go of her, stepping back a little. "No, no. No! I would never do anything like that! That's so wrong... You poor thing, I must have scared you to death. No wonder you started crying!" Hinata wiped her eyes, looking hopeful. Kankuro laughed shakily. "That's just how I play around with my family, the chakra threads," he explained, "I didn't think you would take it the wrong way. I'm sorry, I should have known better. I can be a real ass sometimes, I guess."

Hinata sank onto the bed. "No, I'm sorry. I- I have trouble, dealing with other people. I get paranoid and... panic, I guess. I shouldn't have felt so threatened."

"Eh, don't worry about it... and you don't need to be so timid around me. I don't bite."

She smiled wanly. "I'll sleep on the floor. It's been a long couple of days for you."

"For you, too," he reminded her.

"But... this is my home. It must be hard for you to be away from your family. The least we can do is offer you a bed to sleep in."

"... all right. But tomorrow I'll be on the floor ok? Fair's fair."

LilMzSunshine,

The following review has been submitted to: Matchmaker, Matchmaker Chapter: 3: Weaving Webs

From XxpuppetmasterxX

I'm hurt, Sunshine. Is it a shot at me that this guy's a puppeteer? XD I'm going to have to write a companion to this from the guy's point of view. (With your blessing, of course).

I hope real-life Mr. Sunshine didn't actually try anything with you. I'd have to come down there and cut a bitch. He's making my specialty look bad.