Portrait
(takes place several months after Gaara is appointed as Kazekage)
Extra Sketch
Michicko exhaled slowly as she dropped her weapons. Then she lowered herself to the ground of the training area and lay back slowly, eyes closed, to allow herself to catch her breath.
She opened her eyes as a long shadow fell over her, "Hey. Long time no see."
Kankurou shrugged, frowning, "I've been here for awhile - you should've sensed my chakra."
Michicko closed her eyes to keep from rolling them, "That's why you're a Jounin and I'm not."
Kankurou frowned and gave her a look which she sensed even with her eyes closed.
"I'll work on it, okay?"
Kankurou eyed her, then shrugged and took a seat next to her, "Whatever. It's up to you whether you want to be a Jounin or not."
Michicko chose to ignore the feigned indifference in his words. She had just finished training - honestly, all she wanted to do right then was relax. She turned to him, "So I haven't seen you around for awhile. Are you swamped with missions now?"
She was vaguely aware of a movement of his hood, "No, Temari and I have been helping Gaara get sorted out. You wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork that's piled up. I certainly don't envy him."
Michicko opened her eyes suddenly, then blinked a few times before speaking next, "Kankurou-kun?"
He turned to her, the purple standing out on his features, "Yeah?"
"I've been wondering about this for awhile and, well I just want to know...did you want to be Kazekage?"
Kankurou blinked, startled - it was hard to read his expressions when he was in his puppeteer garb but Michicko had spent enough time with him to be able to determine his expressions. He turned away from her then, his body suddenly tense and rigid.
He didn't respond right away and she started to get anxious, afraid that she had offended him, "I don't have anything against Gaara-sama of course, I just wanted to know..."
Kankurou scoffed and shook his head, "It's cool but I mean, come on Michicko - could you really see me as Kazekage? We both know I haven't got that kind of patience - I'd butt heads with the counsel all the time and I'd tell off some important, foreign ambassador and I'd walk out of a meeting if things were moving too slowly or if someone annoyed me and - "
"Kankurou-kun," she cut in, "you haven't answered my question."
He fell quiet again and turned to look at the ground between his feet. She noted that his fingers were twitching - a nervous habit that she was sure he'd picked up in the puppet brigades (he wasn't the first puppeteer she'd seen doing that).
Eventually he spoke, "It wasn't my dream, if that's what you thought - but sure, it crossed my mind once or twice. I mean I didn't really have a choice - I had to think about it, being the Kazekage's son and all that," he paused then, thinking - the twitching had stopped - then resumed speaking, "I don't regret the counsel's decision though - not for a minute."
Michicko nodded and opened her mouth to respond, assuming that he was done but to her surprise, he continued, "This position will be good for Gaara. He really has changed, you know and it's easier for me and Temari to see that because we live with him and we fight alongside him but the villagers are reluctant to believe it." He frowned, "I guess I can't really blame them - they don't see him the way we do - they can't, not yet but hopefully, as Kazekage, he'll be able to show the village just how far he's come. He wants this. He needs this," he finished quietly, eyes distant, lips curled up into a faint, wistful smile.
Michicko considered him silently, amazed by the change in the boy next to her. He was so different from how he'd been when they'd first met - less outspoken, less arrogant, less headstrong. And his attitude toward his brother - well that was almost a full three sixty degrees. Who would've thought that he'd be trying so hard to get the village to recognize the boy who until fairly recently he'd also considered a terror and a monster?
'Looks like Gaara's not the only one who's changed,' Michicko thought, smiling fondly at him.
Kankurou nearly jumped when he turned his gaze back to her and found her watching him like that, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Michicko shrugged and turned away from him, still smiling, "No reason. No reason at all."
He sighed and rose, then held his arm out to Michicko who took it and helped herself up, "Well, you aren't gonna make it to Jounin status practicing on your own - let's spar." He laughed when he noted her reluctant expression, "What's wrong? Afraid you can't keep up?"
Michicko's eyes flashed and she lifted her weapons once again, 'Less arrogant, my foot!' "Oh, we'll see about that," she said, disappearing and re-appearing behind him before firing two shuriken at his head.
He dodged them easily, then released Karasu from its' scroll. 'Oh boy,' Michicko thought as she saw it, 'he's not kidding around. I'll really have to be on the ball here.'
With that thought, she geared herself up for what ended up being a tiring, strenuous, thoroughly enjoyable fight for both parties involved.
A/N: I read a fic where the author talked about Kankurou being Kazekage. Truth be told, I couldn't really see it so I wanted to address the issue (and write more MichikoxKankurou, of course!) Let me know what you think.
