A/N: I finally redid chapter 11. whew. It was extremely hard to do, mind you, because my mind now and then is totally different and the last version is so much better. I hope this new one is up to your expectations. XD

This one is about Kankurou! I thought he had too little page appearance, so here he is. Too bad I had to redo the chapter.

Rambie: I did. Thanks for the info.
Hibiki-chan: Sure thing. Lol.
Ehree: I will, but not this one. Maybe the next, because I feel special. Lol.


Hurting

Rustle, rustle.

Temari tightened the grip on her fan as her sharp ears caught the rustling sound of the bushes nearby. She decided to let her opponent have the first move and stayed in her position, her eyes trying to spot for a hint of orange hiding behind the bushes.

A soft 'snap' made Temari throw her fan from her right hand to the other as she defended herself against a flying kunai. It had not even reached the ground before a few more came shooting from within the bushes, soaring through the air from every direction. Temari expertly handled her iron fan and protected herself from most of the kunais and shurikens, the weapons clanging loudly against it. One more came zooming from below, creating a small cut on Temari's left leg, making her wince as it did. As blood slowly oozed out, Temari thought quickly and used her fan as a boost to jump up in the air, watching as a second wave of weapons crossed each other in the circular area she had been. Swinging her fan behind her, Temari stored her chakra into it and called out,

"Daikamaitachi no jutsu!"

Several cutting gusts of wind appeared and blew the bushes and weapons away. Temari landed on a tree branch, taking note of a few traps that had launched the weapons, hidden behind the bushes, as well as the fact some of the weapons were merely illusions.

Temari smirked.

Smart girl.

-

Seki stared intently at the scene below her, admiring Temari's swift movements as her traps were being blown away. Crouching down, Seki prepared to leap away from the canopy she had been since they started training. She made sure not to make a sound, as she did when setting up the traps. Keeping an eye on Temari, Seki silently landed below her and thrusted her palms upowards the branch Temari was on.

"Kaze no rensei hari!"

Seki stepped to the side as the branch broke into pieces and went crashing down to the forest floor. She frowned when she heard a small 'poof' and Temari's falling body was replaced by a log, and quickly leaped to the next branch. A few more jumps and she landed back on the ground, knowing that Temari's fan would not be able to hold her that long in the air. Seki decided to use this chance, and clapped her hands together while embedding more chakra into her air.

Slowly opening her palms, a tornado could be seen growing in between both palms and when Seki heard a soft break of a twig behind her, she swerved on her heel and pushed the tornado towards Temari.

Temari brought her fan to the front, to defend herself against the impact, but was still thrown back due to its size. The blond smacked against a tree with a load yelp, and dropped to the ground on her hands and knees. Seki herself tried to maintain her balance as a smile slowly grew.

"Surprised?"

Temari lifted her head, panting heavily as she pulled herself up with her fan. She smirked good naturedly.

"So was I," Seki answered her own question and fell backwards on the ground.

Don't forget me.

Urusai.

Temari appeared beside her, extending her hand to help Seki up.

"Again? You're getting better at controlling your tornadoes."

Seki laughed softly and took the older girl's hand before getting up. She nodded, her red eyes sparkling brightly with determination like jewels. Temari walked backwards, doing seals for a shunshin jutsu as she did.

"Bring it on, Seki-chan," Seki grinned at Temari's taunt, a few strategies already forming in her head.

"Bring it on."

-

Kankurou and Seki glared at each other, their mind gears working furiously to find new insults for the other party.

"You're as heartless as a shinigami, Kankurou!"

"It was just a kid, who insulted you too, might I add!"

"So? It was still mean, you puppet-obsessed boy!"

"And I suppose you're supposed to be the windy witch of the West or something?"

"It's wicked witch of the West, baka!"

"So! You admit the fact that you're wicked!"

Temari watched the scene before her, laughing occasionally with every sarcastic comment the two could come up with. It was like they couldn't click well, yet they did.

I wonder where she gets the energy, Temari thought as she looked back and forth at her brother and her best friend. They were arguing because Kankurou, after coming to meet up with the two girls, had scared off a child, probably about 5, who called Seki a bakemono. Even though Seki was obviously hurt, she seemed peeved off at the fact Kankurou used one of his scary looking puppets to nearly strangle the kid. Seki had a big heart, so did Kankurou. Temari smiled at this and placed each of her hands on both of their shoulders just as they arrived at the sand siblings' place.

"If you guys don't stop fighting, I'll whack the both of you senseless," Temari smirked as she saw both teenagers glance at her iron fan at the same time. Grinning broadly, Kankurou rested his arm over Seki's shoulders while the latter patted his back.

"We're cool."

"Yeah, no more fighting from now on."

"Good," Temari stated, though she doubted their promise. "Then I suppose the house is safe while I go get some groceries."

"Hai. Get more tomatoes, Temari. I want to make summer vegetable soup today," Seki answered. Temari nodded, ruffling the orange head and waved as she disappeared.

Seki turned back to Kankurou, who shrugged and slipped off his sandals after entering the sand siblings' home. Seki followed suit, and trailed after Kankurou as he walked up the stairs to his room. She didn't have to ask his permission, but Kankurou rolled his eyes anyway when she pushed past him to have a look at his bedroom.

The walls had numerous shelves, which displayed mechanical contraptions and small machinery parts like nuts and bolts that were weirdly shaped. A few toy puppets lay on his desk, as if they were models for his future creations. Another shelf above his desk showed an assortment of weapons that could be stored inside his puppets. Seki looked around in awe and sank onto his bed, her eyes catching a half made puppet at the corner.

He's a pretty hardworking boy, ain't he?

Hardworking, yes. Pretty, no.

That's exactly what I would say about you.

... Why do you torture me so?

"That thing looks like a huge jar," Seki commented. Kankurou smirked and rested Karasu beside his bed.

"I'm planning it to be a trapping unit, like this," Seki turned towards his desk, where Kankurou demonstrated using a small puppet. It looked like a smaller jar, with numerous arms, and could open and close with Kankurou's chakra strings. Seki grinned and secretly blew some of her wind at it, so that it flew to the wall.

"Hey! Stop that, brat," Kankurou scolded, although even Seki could hear the teasing tone in it. She supported herself with her arms and swung her legs as she continued to examine the room. Just then, her left leg hit something with a soft 'thud'. Seki stopped swinging her legs and looked down, spotting a small shoebox hidden beneath the bed covers.

Making sure Kankurou was engrossed in his puppets, Seki reached down and brought it to her lap, turning to face the other side as she did so.

Seki opened the lid of the box and saw a wad of notes and photos, the top one catching her attention. It was a photograph of 4 people, and it looked crumpled and the edges were worn and tattered. A man was wearing the Kazekage robes and had spiky brown hair, similar to that of Kankurou's. The woman beside him had brown hair as well, with soft facial features and a kind expression. Seki cocked her head to one side as she realised the woman looked just like Yashamaru. The children in front of them, Seki presumed, were the younger versions of Temari and Kankurou. The girl had the same 4 spiky ponytails, while the boy had brown hair similar to his father's. Seki's eyes automatically went back to the woman, wondering about the similarity.

"HEY! Is that how you lose your friends?!"

Seki's snapped up to see a very pissed off Kankurou, who snatched the photo and the box away.

"Going through their private things without asking for permission?" Seki winced as the comment stung her like acid.

Busted and Hurt.

You do know I have an irritation level.

You also know whacking your head in the middle of a conversation is very weird.

... I hate you.

Love you, too.

"Gomen, it was too tempting, and I..."

"Nevermind."

Seki blinked a few times as Kankurou cut her off. He sat down beside her and raised the photo to eye level, eyes showing every single bit of hurt, anger and bitterness he felt over the years.

"I'm sorry for saying that."

Seki took a few seconds to realize he was referring to the 'no friends' comment and smiled. She watched his eyes glaze over and took a deep breath.

"Would, would you mind telling me?"

Kankurou turned to her slightly, hands lowering, crushing the photo.

"Why do you feel so bitter towards Gaara?"

-

Gaara walked through the door, pausing as he noticed a smaller pair of sandals beside Kankurou's pair. The same strange tugging of his heart came back and made him walk up the stairs towards Kankurou's room. The door was closed, but he heard muffled sounds from within.

-

Kankurou gripped the photo so hard his knuckles turned white, and Seki considered taking back her words.

"Kankurou, maybe..."

"This was when Gaara was concieved."

Seki shut up as Kankurou started.

"Even before he was born, he was a terror to my okaasan. She was to be sacrificed for him, and she hated it. I hated it. He was just a tool to the Kazekage, yet he wanted to do anything for Gaara. Gaara killed my okaasan. He caused us to lose our friends, caused several deaths of the villagers. He caused me to lose my status. I'm not a brother to him, nor a senior. I'm a pathetic weakling against him, and when the Kazekage decided to pin all his hopes on him, I felt so damn dejected and angry. How could he, when he wasn't even born yet, be so powerful he could kill our okaasan? Why should he take away everything we have?"

"Kankurou, Gaara is also..."

"Do you know the feeling of losing someone, something?"

Seki bit her tongue and looked down, shadow covering her face. Kankurou didn't notice and looked back at the photo.

"I lost my okaasan, my friends, my family. I don't know why Temari wants to understand him. To me, he is just a stupid brat I can't even defeat. And I don't think I will ever forgive him for this."

-

Gaara heard enough. He did a shunshin silently out of the house, the tugging in his heart, slowly becoming a dull ache.

Just like the ache he felt when Yashamaru died, because of him.

-

"Baka."

Seki said it so softly even she didn't hear it properly. Kankurou turned his head towards her.

"Nani?"

"You baka. Do you know WHY Temari wants to understand him, help him? Did you even ask?"

"..."

"You think he didn't lose anything? He already lost it before he had it! Just because he has the Shukaku, you think he wanted to have that power? I bet you my life he would rather be as pathetic as you, than have the Shukaku's power!"

Kankurou blinked, shocked at Seki's outburst, and the contents of it. He suddenly felt pretty stupid, not really considering anything but his own feelings.

But...

Kankurou looked up, mouth set in a thin line.

"I can't just start talking to him like that."

Seki threw her hands in the air and sat on the bed. She knew it would be too perfect for Kankurou to just do as she said, but it didn't hurt to hope right?

Wrong.

Seki sighed and looked at Kankurou who looked at her.

"Promise me, you'll try."

"..."

"Please? If not now, at least, within this year."

Kankurou shifted uncomfortably, but glancing at Seki's serious expression, he didn't really want to ruin their current relationship over someone like Gaara. Letting out a deep breath, he smiled slightly.

"Okay, I promise."

Seki smiled and laughed slightly. Kankurou joined in, and after a few minutes of comfortable silence, they heard Temari from downstairs, and went down to help her with dinner.

The only person absent that night, was Gaara.

-


A/N: Once again, hope you enjoyed this one. Chapter 12 is already in progress, just a few touch ups here and there so that the information is not repeated.

Daikamaitachi no jutsu – Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique
Urusai – Noisy (Shut up)
Shinigami – Death God

REVIEWS REALLY WELCOMED! (helps me to write better, really!)

-JE