OK, I guess that I took a ridiculous amount of time to update. *guilty chuckle*... Sorry. I started my third year of secondary a couple of weeks so I was pretty busy. But the chapter is out, and that is all that counts right? Oh, and this chapter is a lot more lighthearted than the last one, that was sort of dark.
I do not own anything. Not Naruto, not Gaara, not Kankuro, not Temari, not Suna, not the hot the chocolate I'm drinking. It's my mom's, technically. I only half own the random ninja I put in, since I never made joninsups. Kishimoto-sama did, so all credit goes to him! *crazy cheers and applauds as spotlight turns towards the Kishimoto, who is dressed in a ninja outfit*... Damn, where did that come from?

"We have arrived!" yelled out the squad leader, stopping abruptly in front of a cliff.
The dozen or so ninja with him slowly walked over to the edge of it and cautiously leaned over. The waves crashed loudly underneath them, making white foam appear all over the surface of the ocean.
"You may rest!" Ordered the top jonin, sitting down and setting up a camp. Yuudai sighed in relief and slumped to the floor. They had not rested at all in the past two days. Granted, it had cut half a day off their trip, but now they were all exhausted.
"Make sure that you don't waste your energy! The searching will start as soon as possible!"

...

Kankuro and Gaara sat silently around their sister as she started making their breakfast. The reason she was cooking was simple : Kankuro and Gaara were both probably capable of burning water. It's not that they were clumsy, they were very good at doing things. Like killing, for example. Or Kankuro could handle wood like a professional.
But when it came to the kitchen, none of the three siblings were experienced. They have lived their whole lives being served by their father's cooks.
However, Temari was probably the most patient and practical out of the trio.

The kunoichi started a fire and placed a flat rock on top of it, so that she could fry the eggs that her brother had brought back for her.
"Aw, damn..." sighed Temari, poking the eggs with a stick to make sure that they weren't burning too much. She had grilled the tip of the wood before using it, since ingesting a virus in the middle of the ocean was probably the most inconvenient thing that could happen.
Kankuro raised his head sleepily and quirked an eyebrow at her.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

His sister sighed and looked back down at the frying eggs. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment, wondering how she could put this.
"I don't know why I realized this now but... In that shipwreck, we lost all that we had. All our stuff... weapons, clothes, books, sewing needles... proper cooking utensils." She said through clenched teeth as she stared down at the miserable twig between her hands. "All we have now is our shelter and what's left of our clothes. That we have been wearing for, like, what? Five days?"
"Three." corrected Gaara, who was staring at the sand under his feet.

Kankuro and Temari both blinked in shock.
"Seriously? Only three days have passed since the accident? How is that possible? Hmm.. Yeah, three nights, counting the one when we ended up here. So this is only the third day? Wow. So much has happened, it doesn't even seem real." mumbled the puppet-nin, looking up at the sun above his head. Only three days... The words echoed soundlessly around the clearing.

"Temari? Kankuro?" Gaara broke the silence.
"Yes? What is it?" Smiled the kunoichi encouragingly, walking over to a tree with large leaves and ripping three off. She was glad that the young boy was starting to voice his opinions more, especially since they weren't death threats.
The jinchuuriki seemed to hesitate for a moment before asking the question that all of them had in their hearts, but didn't have the guts to say out loud.
"Are we going to be stuck here forever?" whispered the the young red headed boy, his gaze shifting around to observe his siblings' reactions.

Kankuro shrugged and looked down at his feet. Temari bit her lip and used her stick to push a couple not-so-burned eggs onto a leaf and handing one to each of her brothers.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But, since we are here now, we might as well do the best we can, right? So that we can live properly in case nobody finds us." She gulped at the last part. "Thanks to Kankuro, we now have the most important thing: a roof over our heads. The next step is probably kitchen wear, since eating this egg without chopsticks will be messy."

Temari demonstrated by picking a piece of her food, slightly burning her fingers in the process, and popping it into her mouth. She grinned at the taste.
"Finally! None berry food! Thank you, Kankuro. For bringing this stuff back."

Everybody ate their small meal, and grabbed a few bananas from the bundle. When they finished, they sat in a circle and all thought for a few moments.
Temari drew circles in the sand before talking.
"I could try to repair our clothes. What do you guys think you could do?" she said.
Kankuro scratched the back of his head before raising his hand, earning strange looks from his siblings.
"I could be in charge of getting food!"
"NO!" shouted Temari and Gaara at the same time, shutting the startled puppet-nin up.

Temari sighed and tapped her chin.
"Maybe Gaara should be in charge of finding things, since he has a great sense of direction. Unlike some people, who manage to get lost. I'll cook. Kankuro, why don't you work on making things with your hands? You did a great job with the shelter." She pointed out. Both of her brothers nodded.

Kankuro grinned and jumped to his feet.
"Alright! What should I make first?" he asked cheerfully, as if he hadn't nearly died the night before.
"It's a toss up between a sewing needle or kitchen wear." answered Temari.

Every cricket chirp and leaf rustle was heard for three minutes in the clearing, as the silence roamed.
"Uh... I can try but, that won't be easy without a kunai or something." sighed Kankuro.
"Ahh... OK, forget it then. What do you guys want to do now?" asked Temari.
"I'll just fix up the door. Come on Gaara, I need you help." mumbled the puppet-nin.

Before the jinchuuriki could stand up, the kunoichi was already smacking the back of Kankuro's head.
"Idiot! You nearly died of hypothermia last night! You need more rest! Just tell me how to do this thingy!" Yelled Temari, trying to push her brother back into a sitting position, who just looked horrified.
"No way! You cannot touch my work of art! Besides, you are in no better condition than me! Your limbs are still healing from the glass cuts! Which reminds me, we've got to check those to make sure that they aren't infected yet!" shouted the puppet-nin, who was trying to wrestle his sister back to the floor, like she was doing.
"My wounds are fine! I'm a ninja! I can deal with this!" hollered the kunoichi, who looked as if she would happily knock the living daylights out of Kankuro.
"I'm a ninja too!"
"No, you're a crappy ninja who plays with dolls!"
"Puppets! And looks who's talking, fan-girl!"
"Zip it and go lie down and heal!"
"No, you go lie down and I'll finish the door!"

After a few more seconds of their bickering, Gaara had had it. He growled menacingly, making both of his siblings shut up immediately.
In one small glance of agreement between Temari and Kankuro, all three of them started fixing up a door for their little home together.

...

The three teenagers stood back and admired their work.
"... I can't believe that it took us so damn long to do this!" moaned Kankuro. The sun was shining brightly above their heads, bathing the wooden shelter door in light.
"What? I think that it's not to bad. We did a good job." said Temari cheerfully.
"We? Temari, you 'accidentally' brokethe door twice! Gaara had to get a crazy amount of wood just for one miserable little creation! But it isnice, isn't it?" grinned the puppet-nin giving both his siblings a pat on the shoulder. The kunoichi stood and looked proud of herself but Gaara seemed slightly nervous.

"Kankuro... The door has..." started the jinchuuriki before getting interrupted when his sister skipped over to the shelter and poked the side of their masterpiece.

The door crumbled comically into a heap of twigs and branches. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as all three of them stared at the remains of their hard work.
"Did any of you notice a missing piece in it or something?" whispered Kankuro, who looked at the brink of ranting for another half hour about stupid mistakes in the art of wood creations.

The silence went on for a second before Gaara slowly raised his hand.
"I'm not getting any more wood for you idiots." He said flatly, pointing to all the small heaps of wood in front, behind and beside them, all dead memories of their first, second, and now third try at making the simple door.
"Uh huh... Fine. Just let me do it this time. Temari... Why don't you find some more of those berries so that we can make a bigger meal with what's left of the stuff I brought back?" suggested Kankuro, standing protectively in front of the shelter, glaring at his sister, daring her to come close to his 'precious baby' of a wooden house.

The kunoichi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with a huff.
"Sheesh. It wasn't me this time. I am not going to..." She suddenly gulped when Gaara sent her a pissed look. She started backing away slowly. "You know what? I'm going to get those berries whilst you two do the work. See ya."
With that she turned away and half ran into the trees, grabbing a large leaf on the way. She didn't want to have to use her shirt like the last time. The stains were sticky and annoying to wash away, and simply didn't feel like dirtying her already worn out clothes further.

When she was no longer in hearing range, Kankuro spun around to face his brother.
"Quick! Let's fix it before she wants to help again!"
With that said, the two boys hastily tried to make up for a lot of lost time.

...

After an hour or so and another meal, constructions were finally finished... and stable. Kankuro checked to make sure... over a dozen times.
"If it breaks again... I'm still blaming you." he muttered looking right at Temari.
She stuck her tongue out at him and gave Gaara a quick pat on the back.

"I'm proud of you two! You did a great job. Sorry that I couldn't be much help." She smiled sheepishly. The jinchuuriki shrugged and Kankuro mumbled something like 'no duh, klutzy' under his breath.
The kunoichi slowly, carefully walked in and out the shelter. After doing it four times, she started clapping here hands.
"Yup! It's idiot proof for sure!" she shouted out happily, dancing cheerfully around the clearing before jumping to a halt in front of her brothers, something that none of them have ever witnessed before. The siblings looked at each other for a moment. Then, Temari and Kankuro started laughing their hearts out, clenching their sides. Gaara was still calm and cool, but amusement was shining in his eyes.

It took them a few moments to calm down.
Kankuro blinked the tears out of his eyes and smiled brightly at his family.
"I... I can't remember the last time that... that all three of us found something hilarious. I kinda like it." he said, staring straight up at the blue, clear sky.
"Yeah... I know how you feel. I can't remember the last time I felt this happy." chuckled Temari, pulling both her little brothers into a group hug.

They refused to move for a long time, until Gaara started squirming uncomfortably in their embrace.
His siblings released him reluctantly and Temari just stood, and looked at the young red headed boy.

She had been right. He had changed a lot. He seemed... lighter, less reserved or hateful. He looked happier than she had ever seen him. She could tell just by looking into his green eyes.

...

There was a strange, warm feeling in Gaara's chest that wasn't this strong before.
It felt strange, but not exactly uncomfortable. It tingled a bit and felt all fuzzy.

Gaara's first guess was that he was going into cardiac arrest.

Then, he looked back at his sibling's smiles of pure happiness.
No, he wasn't dying. He just felt so happy and loved, he could hardly believe it himself.
Sharing that little moment of joy with them... he finally, for the first time in his life, understood the meaning of sharing positive bonds with his siblings.
Last night, with Temari, he had shared her hope and fears.

He had also felt that warm feeling in his heart when she had cried of happiness in his arms after he had brought Kankuro back. When she had said how much she loved him. And that he was her crazy little brother.
Brother. Sister. Siblings. He wasn't completely sure what those words meant. But he was starting to feel some of it. The care, the love, the smiles.

At that moment, he didn't understand what the Kazekage's problem was.
Why did he have to do this to their family? Why did the man called his father turn him into a monster? If only he hadn't, he could have probably understood the full meaning of family. But, somehow, he couldn't yet. He felt comradeship, teamwork, friendship, safety and love with his siblings. But not that... feeling. The one he had felt for his uncle. The one of pure trust, admiration, adoration, family. And later, betrayal.

Gaara slowly shook his head. It was not the time to think of something like this now. He wanted to be able to feel that family feeling again, with Kankuro and Temari. But wasn't too sure how. Were was the path he had to take? Where was the start and the end? Where they any nasty turns?
Somehow, Gaara knew only one thing. He definitely felt on the right path. And that was a good beginning.

...

"It's fixing pretty well. I guess that fast healing runs in our family's blood or something." stated Kankuro, who was inspecting his sister's wounds. When he had removed the bloody bandages, he was surprised to see that the skin and flesh had easily fused itself back together, even where the class had cut deeply. The puppet-nin washed the make-shift bandages in the river before hanging them to dry, but grabbed one of the shreds of cloth and wiped off as much blood off his sister as he could.
After one minute of awkwardness, Temari cleared her throat.
"Um... Yeah. Maybe I should do that." She said then started cleaning herself. "Urg, the minute these are fully half healed I'm jumping into that river. Talking about that, you two seriously need baths, no offense." The kunoichi made a face as she thought about it.

"Aww... Come on Temari! We only haven't washed for three days! Plus, we all ended up getting a shower last night!" whined the puppet-nin, backing away from the sparkly water as if it were toxic waste.
"No! You are covered in mud and leaves! You stink! Take a dip little brother!" barked the kunoichi, trying to use her 'oldest sibling' authority. It wasn't really working though, as Kankuro had started skipping close to the water, mocking her, but not actually touching any of it.

Suddenly, the boy tripped over an abnormally large pile of sand and fell with a splash into the river.
An eerie silence roamed the clearing until Kankuro burst out of the water gasping for air.
"Ah! Cold! Cold! Cold! Gah!" he screamed latching onto the river bank, shivering at the temperature of the water. "What...?"
He glared at Temari, who was practically choking on her laughter. He was going to start yelling at his sister but then her spotted the dancing sand that had escaped his notice a moment ago.
"What? Gaara?You?" he widened his eyes in complete shock as he stared at his little brother. The jinchuuriki just shrugged.
"Temari is right. You stink." He said emotionlessly, keeping a straight face. This only made the kunoichi laugh harder.

Kankuro's eyebrow twitched in anger. He growled devilishly and dug his nails into the earthy ground.
"You... You... Why are you ganging up on me? This is so not funny! The water is freezing cold!" he continued complained for a good amount of time without actually getting out of the river. Temari guessed that he was going to stay in there for at least a little longer so she removed her shirt and tossed it at Kankuro.
"There. Could you wash that while you're at it?"

The puppet-nin grumbled but did as he was told. Then, he froze halfway through the washing and grinned evilly at the younger of his two siblings.
"Gaara, why don't you come in here too, since you are such a nice and understanding little boy and don't mind helping your big brother wash our clothes?" asked the boy hopefully, nearly batting his eyelashes at his brother.
"No." replied the jinchuuriki flatly, backing away from the water.

Of course, Kankuro knew what this was about. Gaara hated water because all his attacks and defenses where based on sand. But, the river was freezing, and the puppet-nin was very pissed at the red head for making him fall in. So he attached a chakra string to the bottom of the boy's foot and tugged him into the water. The splash was huge.
This time, nobody laughed during the silence. Then, slowly, Gaara stood up in the river, looking horrified and disgusted. The water went up to his shoulders and his expression made it clear that he really, really didn't like it.

For one moment, Kankuro asked himself if that was really the wisest thing to do, but that thought was overruled by his need for revenge. He just raised his eyebrow when Gaara shot him a death glare. The jinchuuriki's lips were pressed into a thin, frustrated line and when he opened his mouth a fraction of millimeter, a sound resembling a cat's hiss escaped it.
The red head waded his way over to the river bank, pulled himself out and stomped away into the forest.

He returned a second later, taking off his shirt and pants and rinsing them in the river. He turned to glare more at Kankuro. Both the kunoichi and the puppet-nin were staring at their brother with something that resembled a mix of amusement, shock and awe.
"I hate having wet sand in my pants." Growled Gaara, throwing his siblings and the river a dirty look.
He stood up, wrung out his clothes roughly, left them on a branch to dry and then stomped out of the clearing again.

...

"Where do you think he went?" sighed Temari, looking at the trail of water leading into the forest that Gaara had left behind. She couldn't say that she was surprise that he had stormed out again, since that seemed to be his way of making sure that he kept his emotions under control, which kept Shukaku from killing them all. And not even the jinchuuriki wanted that. At least, she didn't think so.
"No idea. Probably to sulk and be emo in his corner. Just you wait, he's gonna start start slitting his wrists with his finger nails." grumbled Kankuro.

The kunoichi shot him a look that showed exactly how unamused she was.
"If that ever does happen, I'm going to kick you ass for pissing him off!" yelled Temari, throwing a rock at her brother, who dodged the shot.
"Aww... That was pathetic sis! What were your years of ninja training for? To throw like a sissy?" Kankuro instantly regretted the words as he saw the vein of his sister's forehead pop out.

In two seconds, a hundred or so rocks were hurled at an incredible speed at the puppet-nin, who, this time, was a little less lucky with the dodging.
"Ow! Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Ow! Stop!" cried Kankuro in vain.
The ruthless kunoichi didn't stop bombarding her brother until her reserve of stones ran out, and that he was covered in unhealthy, colorful bruises as well as crimson red cuts.

Temari crossed her arms and enjoyed the moans of pain that came from the boy. The pitiful noises just fed her anger and pride. She did not like being called weakling names. Especially not by somebody like Kankuro, who had started mumbling curses under his breath and continued washing his clothes. When he finished, he tried to get out of the river, but Temari blocked his path and stuffed Gaara's wet clothes into his arms.
"Wash these again, properly. Or else I'm going to poke you to death when I come back." threatened the girl, turning around and stomping into the forest, looking over her shoulder to send a warning glance to her brother.
Kankuro opened his mouth to call his sister back, but she had already disappeared.

Temari kept her eyes glued to the trail of water that would lead her to Gaara. Luckily, the trees kept it from evaporating too quickly. She felt bad for letting him go until now. He shouldn't have to figure his problems out alone, Shukaku or not. She wanted her little brother to know that he could always be with them, and that they would never leave him, not matter. To do that, she would have to find him first.

...

Gaara leaned back against the branch, closing his eyes. He was glad that he had found this large, comfortable tree. Sitting up here with the light breeze soothed him a little, and he found his anger towards his brother dissipating slowly. He knew that he had deserved it, but getting tossed into a river had just really pissed him off. He hated that feeling of the cold water touching his skin and making him vulnerable. He trusted his siblings, but knowing that his sand was melting off him didn't exactly make him comfortable either.

He was surprised to know that Shukaku hadn't bothered him. The demon hadn't even taken advantage of the fact that his emotions weren't under control to try to make him snap. Gaara sat and meditated, quietly savoring his victory against his inner monster.
Then, he sensed her coming.

He immediately jumped out of the tree and landed softly on the ground, just as Temari arrived. Why was she here? Did something happen?
"Temari, is it Kankuro? What ha-...?" started the jinchuuriki as coldly as he could, but he couldn't completely stop a little bit of worry from leaking into his voice.
"Relax! That idiot is fine! I came to make sure that you were OK!" said Temari taking a step towards the red headed boy, smiling comfortingly.

Shock filled Gaara's head. Neither one of his siblings had ever gone after him to check on his well being before. They had always just let him storm out and be alone.
"Why?" asked Gaara naively. At this moment, when Temari looked at him, she saw that small, young, dangerous red headed boy that she had avoided and feared years ago... months ago... days ago...
"Because nobody should be alone when they have problems. We are here for you little brother. I know that Kankuro is an insensitive idiot at times, but he normally regrets his actions around half an hour too late. But you don't have to leave every time you feel angry Gaara... You could just talk to us. Or throw rocks at Kankuro, that's what I do." chuckled the kunoichi, ruffling the back of her hair.

The jinchuuriki stared silently at his sister for a minute.
"I could be dangerous if I do not have my emotions under control." he whispered, looking at Temari, who just shook her head.
"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure that your brother and I are able to handle that. Or we could at least try, so that you don't have to be alone all the time." she replied, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Gaara looked up at his sister with wide eyes. The kunoichi bit her lip and pulled the boy into a silent hug, just like she had last night, when he had helped her. Except this time, she hoped that she was making him feel happy in return.

"Temari... Did you leave Kankuro in the clearing? Without supervision? After what happened last night?" asked the jinchuuriki monotonously.

It took a few seconds for the truth of the boy's words to sink in. When they did, Temari and Gaara looked at each of for a moment then shot off like bullets through the trees, back to their home, hoping that their brother hadn't tried to follow them.

...

Kankuro whistled a tune to himself, folding the last of Gaara's clothes. The freezing cold water didn't bite as much now, as he had gotten used to the temperature. And he was glad that his slightly ripped black pants were probably very clean, because he just couldn't feel bothered to take them off and wash them.
With a grunt, he pulled himself out of the water and onto the dry ground. He flexed his arms to get rid of the cold's numbing effects, then slowly stood up and tried to shake all the water off his body. He sighed, picked up all the clean clothes and hung them on a branch to dry. He snickered when he placed his sister's shirt onto the tree.
"If she weren't wearing those bindings, she would be walking around half naked... Good thing we're alone here." he mumbled to no one in particular.

"Kankuro!" shouted Temari, running out of the forest, towards him, followed by Gaara. The puppet-nin was filled with panic.
"What? I was just kidding! What did you hear me say?" he stammered out, trying to think of the best way to avoid his death. At least he got to see both of his siblings before going right?
"You idiot! Don't you ever leave again! You scared us to death! Kankuro..." screamed Temari, jumping on him and squeezing him so hard in her arms that he could feel his blood clogging up.
"What? What are you talking about? I was washing the clothes like you told me!" yelled the brunet, extremely confused and trying to pry his sister off himself.

The kunoichi grinned sheepishly and let go of him.
"Oops. Sorry. Right. I guess that I will forever be scared of you disappearing after what happened last night." sighed the girl brushing the hair out of her face.
They both turned to look at Gaara, who just standing there, looking at their display, obviously very amused. So amused, in fact, that if only he was just like everybody else, he would probably have been laughing his heart out. If only.

...

I apologize again for not updated for, like, a month. I will update as regularly as I can, considering that I have freakish amount of homework and tests. And I will also be participating in a short story writing competition again this year, that I won last year, because my teacher is forcing my entire class to participate this year. So I will need to take time for that. But I will update!
Thank you for those who still take time to review my stoies, it really does mean the world to me! You guys rock!
And my readers make my day, so thank you for reading my story! I hope that you enjoyed it! And that you vote on my poll or something!
XOXO ~~~ HimekoUchia, aspiring writer, student, movie and music lover!