The next morning, Kankurou awoke with a headache. "Ugh…" he gurgled to himself, rubbing his messy hair and sitting up in his bed downstairs. He blinked twice to finally get at least some of his vision back. "Must be the damn chair's fault," he murmured sleepily, yawning briefly before scooting off the bed and into a pair of navy blue slippers to go on a long trek to retrieve Aspirin or something that performed similar effects.

He looked like very much disorder. His hair was still a bit sticky from the milk incident, eyes tired, head droopy, and an invisible bump on his scalp from the chair. Hopefully he wouldn't run into anybody like Temari who could dog him about anything he did yesterday.

Reaching the bathroom, he groggily opened the cabinet and almost blindingly reached for the big white bottle with the small white pills in them… took him three tries or so, but eventually he got what he wanted. Unscrewing the cap, he grabbed a pill with his index finger and thumb and was about to take it without any water when suddenly he heard voices again. "You might want to take two," it suggested. Kankurou blinked once; caught in still motion while holding the pill up, ready to drop it inside his mouth. "Eh?"

"Oh, don't act stupid. This headache must be very hard for you. Feel free to take two of my pills." He held the container up dumbly as he turned it around to check the expiration date, just in case he was being delusional again.

"So I take it you can talk to me and understand me too," Kankurou guessed in a bored manner. "AND you have perverted thoughts, the ability to die, and the capability of manipulating my thoughts."

"Somewhat. Though… perverted thoughts?"

"The vase."

"Oh. I don't know it. Perhaps it is best I don't."

"Good decision. So you're the pill bottle?"

"Yes, indeed. Hello."

It was still rather creepy how most objects introduced themselves with a single 'hello' after their sentence. His eye twitched once. Despite what the bottle said, the pill probably wasn't contaminated. With some hesitation, he plopped the pill directly into his mouth, rolling his tongue around the bitter flavor, then gathering enough strength to swallow it whole. Just like the bottle said, he grabbed another pill and swallowed that one too.

"Another one."

Kankurou gave the bottle a funny look. "What?"

"Take another."

"…Why?"

"Because you need it. Trust me."

Kankurou chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised." He shrugged and reached for another pill, dropping it in his mouth with no hesitation.

"…Take another."

Now Kankurou pulled a face that was no match for the one he had earlier. "What are you trying to do, make me sick? I already took three. Just in case you don't know, I'm not Gaara." His brother usually overdosed on the aspirin. It was a bad habit of his.

"As a matter of fact, you should take two more."

"…This has to be a joke."

"You're not laughing."

"…Okay, well, I can't argue with that. But why would any sane person need five pills?"

"But you're not sane."

Kankurou's brows creased at the bottle he held in his hand, and he got a tiny urge to crush it. "I'm perfectly sane, thanks."

"You can say that while talking to a pill bottle? Please…"

He really couldn't blame the bottle for saying that. He truly was talking to a pill bottle. He sighed, feeling his headache grow worse, and decided to take three more pills.

"Feeling better?" it inquired expectantly. "No?"

"Somewhat. I took six pills; I think that's enough." He reached for the cabinet to place the container back in its old spot for Gaara's next use.

"Wait wait wait!" it cried in a hurry.

"What what what?" Kankurou asked tiredly. "Come on, I took six."

"Just one more? It would help me lots."

The puppeteer thought for a long, hard moment. "Fine," he grumbled, taking another damn pill. "That's all." He hurriedly popped it back into the cabinet and shut it before the bottle could say any more. What a stupid idea. Allowing the pill bottle to boss him around? Maybe he was insane.

Later, after he had taken a shower and eaten breakfast, he found himself feeling rather swamped and ill. Dizzy, he collapsed onto the couch in the main room, staring up at the ceiling like it was a complex puzzle. Of course, the only thought crossing his mind was Damn aspirin. I overdosed. Naturally, Temari figured something wasn't right.

"Idiot. Why did you overdose? I usually only have to get after Gaara for that, but you too? God, you're all just a bunch of pill-poppers!" She flung up one hand that used to be resting on her hip in exasperation. Kankurou sighed repulsively.

"I had a bad headache, Temari."

She snorted. "Gaara takes less than you sometimes, and he has worse headaches."

"The damn pill bottle forced me!"

She raised a curious eyebrow. "The bottle tells you to take one or two."

"It told me to take seven!"

She rolled her eyes, thinking that her brother was probably trying to cover himself up in order to look smarter. "Look. Want me to get the bottle? I could read it nice and slow for you." She began turning around, until Kankurou held out a hand.

"Stop! I know, it reads 'one or two', but it said seven."

This only greatly confused the blonde. "…Huh?"

"It said seven."

The kunoichi thought about this for a moment. It didn't take long before she began snorting in laughter, almost collapsing forwards. "Not about this again! You stupid moron! Ahahaha… stop talking to these lifeless objects, it only makes you look completely retarded." She stifled her laughter near the end. Kankurou made a sort of pouty face on the couch and refused to look at her.

"Why don't you believe me?" he grumbled. "Of all people, surely you would be most considerate."

She looked at him seriously this time. "Well, Kankurou… that doesn't really happen. Sure, Gaara would talk to 'Mom' and himself from time to time, but it wasn't a random vase or a stuffed bear. The only thing I'd classify you as is 'insane.'" She approached the couch and began to sit on the arm of it; the one Kankurou's head was resting close to.

"It does!" he argued. "And I'm NOT insane!"

"Sure you are. And Baki-sensei wears playboy underwear."

Kankurou wasn't sure if that were actually true or not, but he retorted anyway, "Just go away if it concerns you so much. I don't need your suggestions." He wanted to add 'bitch' in the sentence, but he didn't want to unleash her wild fury.

She chuckled a bit and swiped at his soft hair. "Well, if it gets any worse, I'm calling the meds. Overdose is considered poison." She got up.

"Whatever."

Smiling to herself, she left. Kankurou was just glad she was in a good mood. Once again, he had the urge to puke.