AN: Yaaaay! By the time I'm done this fic, it might be as long as Les Miserables! :D! …Ugh. I don't have much to say about this chapter other than there should be another update sometime next Saturday if I find the time for it, and that this chapter was extremely satisfying for me to write. It's also very important. Well, enjoy it!
I Do Not Own Naruto
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A week earlier, shortly after the prisoner exchange.
Gaara had warned him, but it still took Kankuro actually seeing the way that the shinobi at their base camp received him for him to understand how much Sunagakure had missed him.
The moment the group of men emerged from the trees, Kankuro heard someone shout his name, and then a few moments after that a hundred or so shinobi had left their tents to line up in front of his entourage. There was a great feeling of relief in the camp now, and soon they all began to shout his name in praise, welcoming him back and praising him for his supposed "bravery." Kankuro tried his best to smile back, but he still felt a bit upset. "Bravery". What "bravery" had he shown?
Soon, once the initial reception was over, night had come, and it was revealed that Gaara had organized for there to be gourmet steaks for the entire posse, and they were to be served Kankuro's favorite liquor and desert. This made the man a bit more enticed and relaxed, but he still couldn't get an uneasy feeling out of his mind. Even as his brother sung his praises at dinner.
"… And here he is now! My brother! Not many could survive Konohagakure's interrogation with his entire mind intact, nary even saying a word on their demand."
Kankuro lowered his fork, and grit his teeth.
…Not true.
He and his brother hadn't had a chance to speak about what had actually happened to him in Ino Yamanaka's custody. They hadn't spoken, especially, about Kankuro's interrogation. It was hard for Kankuro to figure out a way to even admit to revealing details about Eden, and now that his brother had announced his innocence…
There was a loud applause, and Kankuro found all attention on him again. Gaara looked towards him with expectant eyes, and Kankuro had to look away, focusing on his fellow shinobi and trying to keep his face straight and his eyes calm. He noticed it in his brother's eyes before, it wasn't just jubilation and thankfulness that his older brother had returned, it was desperation. He didn't need anything to go wrong anymore, and Kankuro could tell. So, for now at least, he would keep his lips tight about what he had done. It couldn't have been a lot of information, and now that he was back in Sunagakure he could alter things to make the information untrue.
They ate and they drank until the depths of the night, which was when everyone went to retire. Gaara had made the others give Kankuro his own tent, a large one that was situated next to the trees, and was a small walk away from Gaara's own ornate and elaborate tent. Gaara and Kankuro were alone again when he showed him it, and Kankuro spent a few moments walking around it, simply appreciating that for the first time in a year he'd be able to rest soundly and without much interruption.
Until.
He noticed something odd about the location of the tent. Just outside the back of his tent, from which there was no opening, there was a tree that seemed like it had experienced struggle. The back of it near the bottom looked shredded and frayed, and there was a pool of dried blood on some of it's branches and near it's base at the bottom. He paused here, stopping his awkward limping, and Gaara quickly appeared behind him. Kankuro raised a brow.
"…What's this?" His voice had been shocked a bit from the struggle earlier, but it still came off as strong and didn't waver for a moment. Gaara placed a hand to his chin for a moment, before nodding.
"It is from a day-."
"Gaara, remember to use your contractions."
Gaara blinked.
"Right. It's from a day earlier and I, now that I remember it, this is where we were holding Shikamaru."
Upon the mention of the man's name, Kankuro began to feel a torrent of anger, and then, once he remembered how his face looked, a wave of… almost regret came to him. He looked away from the tree, and then frowned his face.
"I see… Gaara…"
"I shall- I'll get it cleaned up right away-."
"No… what did you do to him?"
Gaara turned to his brother, and his eyes narrowed. Now that he had a chance to think about it, he didn't sound jubilant at the exchange upon his treatment of him, nor did he seem pretty pleased with him now. He cleared his throat.
"… I treated him the way he needed to be treated. Let's not have any sympathy for him, Shikamaru's a son of a bitch and he got his just due under my care. I gave him a chance at the beginning to spill his secrets and be set free, he refused, disrespected me. So then sent men to give him a light torture, and I gave him a chance to be free again, but he decided to disobey me, and ran away. Upon his recapture, I gave him more and more chances, but he kept on refusing to even spill a word from his lips. I tried to send ninja to retrieve his son then, maybe that would make him co-operate I thought, but they never came back. I was at my wit's end with that bastard. I go to him, and I give him one final chance at surrender. He refused, so I beat him. He refused. I smashed his head. He refused again, and I took his eyes. He kept on refusing. Even after that session, he never spoke coherently. I gave him more and more chances at freedom, and then I gave him a chance at having a clean, peaceful death. But he kept on. He's brash, and his current situation is entirely his fault. He didn't have to disobey me. He didn't have to fucking run off with Temari, and keep her a secret for all these years. He didn't have to kill all those people at Weeping Sands. But he did. Now he's a wreck of a man, he's going to die in agony, and he'll never see his son, nor Temari, ever again."
When he had finished his splurge, the two brothers stood in silence for a long while. Kankuro didn't say a world, but he didn't need to. The emotions on his face said everything that Gaara needed to hear.
"…What? Do not- Don't tell me that you care about Shikamaru-."
"I don't. I don't give a single fuck about him. Quite frankly, he deserved much worse. But… it's you I'm worried about, Gaara. What you did to him doesn't sound healthy at all."
Gaara threw one of his hands up in annoyance.
"This is coming from the man who-."
"You and I don't have the same mental history. And my torture gives results. My victims are telling me everything but their middle name by the time I'm through with them. But you said that he didn't tell you anything."
"So?"
"So? You know and knew what you had to do to him to get him to co-operate, and you didn't do it."
"Doesn't matter, he's as good as dead now-."
"As good as isn't good enough. He's still alive-."
"He's dying."
"And if he doesn't die, then what happens next? I'll tell ya; Konohagakure will get their greatest martyr. He'll keep coming for us, and he wont stop until we're dead-."
"He's DEAD. He will NOT survive what I've done to him, I assure you."
Kankuro paused for a few moments, and looked his brother in his face. When he saw that Gaara's eyes didn't dare to waver, Kankuro backed down, and looked away from him for a moment.
"…Fine. This conversation wasn't about that in the first place. It's about you, Gaara."
"And I'm telling you, I'm absolutely fine."
"… Really."
"A thousand percent."
"Stop bullshitting me. You can't possibly be 'ok' after the shit you've been through. What we've been through." Kankuro closed his eyes, and the next words came out like an unwanted admission.
"…Temari's dead, after all."
Gaara didn't respond for a very, very long time, and instead the two brothers let a silence wash over them for a while. Kankuro couldn't help but think of what Gaara was going through, however. His eyes eventually turned back to his little brother, and he began to wonder. Did Gaara receive the same nightmares that he did? Did he also get the visions?
Or was he the only member of their family who was slowly going mad?
Eventually, Gaara stirred again, and placed a hand to his head.
"…I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me-."
"Lies, damned lies. Last time I checked, you don't handle loss well-."
"I handled it."
"I'm sure Shikamaru can attest to that-."
"Kankuro."
Kankuro knew that it was many years since his brother had been an official jinchuiki, but he still flinched. He cleared his throat.
"… I don't care what you claim. When we get back, you're taking a good long rest from ruling."
"No I'm not."
"If you deny it I'll just go to the council and make it happen. Every Kazekage is allowed a few grieving periods. It was the one good thing that came from our father's reign-."
"I don't need it."
"Something tells me you didn't take it since you last saw me-."
"You'd be under too much pressure." At this, Kankuro chuckled.
"I've been sitting on my ass for the past year, it's time that I got back into the hot-seat."
"No, no, you need to rest."
"You think I'm lazy?"
Gaara narrowed his eyes.
"And you need to see your family again."
Instantly, Kankuro's' mood changed, and his mind brought him back to some other people that he had been neglecting for the past few months. He then looked at his brother, and grit his teeth. Gaara knew that he was doing, he was sure of it.
"…How have they been…?" His voice came off as uncharacteristically weak, and the Kazekage noticed. He walked behind his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Fine. Shiori's been… working I suppose. She's never cried in public, but I can tell that she's really missed you. And Okuni, well. She's growing up fast you could say. I mean, she's entered the Shinobi Academy already. I think she's almost done her first year now. But don't worry; she's been telling me that she's made lots of friends and is pretty popular amongst the girls…."
Kankuro raised a brow.
"…And the boys…?" He could feel his face heat up, but Gaara looked at him with confused eyes.
"Yes, them too."
Then, the father placed a hand to his face.
"Great."
"Huh? I don't understand- oh! I get it! I think I get why that's a bad thing…"
Kankuro shook his head, a bit embarrassed.
"Sigh, I guess I got to do some damage control then. But that doesn't mean that you're off the hook, not in the slightest."
"You're wasting your time brother. You'll find that I'm as sane as they come."
Kankuro rolled his eyes, but then turned himself around to head into his tent, finally letting the issue die. His probing and poking could wait until at least morning, he reasoned.
But in the meanwhile, he still couldn't help but worry.
Before he was able to open a flap to his tent, Gaara walked behind him and opened it for him. Kankuro was thankful for a few moments; he would've found it difficult to balance his body on the crutch while holding something up. He held the flap up long enough for his brother to make his way inside, and then Gaara leaned into him for another, quick hug Moments afterwards, the awkward feeling returning to the both of them, before Gaara quickly broke free.
"…I'm glad you're back."
His voice was quiet, yet mature and clear enough for Kankuro to understand.
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The trek back to Sunagakure was long, but thankfully Kankuro was given all the support that he required.
In the morning, Gaara had helped him replace the cheap crutch that the Leaf Village had given him with one made out of metal, promising that when they returned home he would be given something to replace his missing leg. After a rather large breakfast, the group of shinobi were on their way home again.
On their way home, Kankuro and Gaara spoke casually to make up for lost time. The conversation stayed pleasant and light, despite all of Kankuro's barely hidden concerns. But, he tried not to worry to much. Gaara was correct, he supposed, he deserved his rest.
As the trees they walked through turned into sand, the puppet master began to feel more and more homesick. Gaara did speak about his wife and daughter a few times, and the time that he had been forced to spend away from them made him impatient to return. When Kankuro became too tired to walk, Gaara slugged his big brother over his shoulder and carried him forwards.
Soon, the great walls of Sunagakure came into clear view, and Gaara called for the rest of their shinobi entourage to disperse, to go home and await further orders. That left him and his brother alone again, as the sun set from the sky. Gaara walked them inside the gates, where Matsuri had been waiting for him, and once she saw him she rushed forwards to push him into a tight embrace. Kankuro stood on his own for a while, and used the opportunity to chastise his brother for still being unmarried.
And that thought brought his thoughts back to his own wife.
Shortly after Gaara and Matsuri spoke, Kankuro began to wander away. Gaara gave Matsuri a small, yet passionate kiss on her lips, and then followed closely after him. He was heading to Sunagakure's evening farmer's market.
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Shiori's favorite type of flower was the desert rose. So, dutifully so, Kankuro bought it for her.
Her favorite type of fragrance was from a rare lavender that grew in the Land of Stone. So dutifully, Kankuro bought it for her.
Eggs, milk and bread running out in his home was a common occurrence, so dutifully, he also bought eggs, milk and bread at the evening market. Soon Gaara's hands were full of a multitude of seemingly useless things, but, like the dutiful Brother, Brother in Law and Uncle that he was, he carried them all without any complaints. As he picked things up, Kankuro couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Within a day he had made the previously horrifying Kazekage into his personal busboy. He grinned. He should get injured more often.
Eventually, the sun set from the sky, and Kankuro had bought everything that he felt he needed. The walk to the apartment where he had lived wasn't far from the market, and it was located in Sunagakure's richest district. Years before he had lived in the Kazekage tower with his brother and sister, but as he got older he needed his own place. It wasn't huge, but it was good enough and had been good enough for 2 adults and a child. It, however, was rather unprotected. There was no gate at the front, and it was hidden almost in plain sight. There were no trees in front of it, and instead of being wide and large it was tall and narrow. There were a set of steps that lead up to the front door, with 1 floor beneath it and two floors above. As Gaara and Kankuro approached it, they saw that there were some lights on.
Now it was time to figure out how to break the news to Shiori. In his mind, Kankuro dreaded her reaction, and dreaded what would happen once he re-entered his wife's life. Gaara had said that they had held a funeral for him, which meant that they thought that he was dead. It was a year, and she would've likely needed someone to help her raise Okuni. Had she moved on from him? Was there a new man in her life? And as for Okuni, would she ever really trust her father again? He had promised her that he'd never abandon her, and he had nearly gone and done just that.
As he took the first step on the steps that lead to his door, he froze with anticipation. He needed to get this right, he didn't want to disappoint them at all. He wanted to swear. He couldn't believe how hard it was to deliver good news as opposed to bad news. He couldn't. He couldn't be just like his fa-.
He felt Gaara place a hand on his shoulder.
"Go, brother. They've missed you dearly."
Kankuro closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He was right. And he had missed them dearly as well.
He continued to oddly wobble up his stairs, and when he reached his door he felt like he had just completed some grand achievement. He then braced himself, before lifting one of his fists and knocking on his front door, gently at first due to his weakness, but soon amping it up. He then waited, his eyes trained ahead, and looking directly at the door's peephole. He knew that his wife always looked through it before announcing that she was even on the inside-.
Wait.
Kankuro shivered, and then turned around to Gaara, who was still overburdened with gifts and food at the base of the stairs.
"Shit! Throw me up the flowers! This isn't going to look the way I wanted it to!"
Suddenly, the door in front of him opened, mere moments after he had knocked on the door. Kankuro ceased his prattling, and turned around to face the person in the doorway.
Shiori of the Hidden Sand. Dressed in her off-duty t-shirt and pants, her hair taken out of it's ponytail and falling down her back, her eyes slowly widening, and the scar still present on her eye. Kankuro tried to stand up straighter on his crutch, and, as he looked over her body, he felt something within him awaken that hadn't been there in months, and he felt his own eyes almost begin to water. Here she was. After all of his worries and all of his resistance towards Konohagakure, she was still here. Safe. Healthy.
He silently sucked in a breath.
"… Shiori… you haven't aged a day-."
Shiori rushed towards him without another word, and kissed him passionately.
Kankuro nearly fell off of his crutches, but eventually was able to compromise, as he wrapped both arms around her, bring her closer. Soon they were chest to chest, the only thing separating their bodies being their clothes. She reached her hands up to play with Kankuro's messy hair, and soon her hands travelled down to smooth his equally out of place beard. Her tongue entered his mouth, and he played with it in response. His heart was on fire. Her heart was burning. His mind wandered back and forth. Yes, this had been what he had been fighting for, all this time. This had been why his lips had been so tight-.
Except when-.
Almost abruptly, her kisses stopped, and she withdrew from him, placing her head on his shoulder. She then closed her eyes, and Kankuro took the opportunity to smooth his hands through her hair. He knew in this moment that he wanted to never leave again. The tears in his eyes grew heavy, but he couldn't let them fall. Meanwhile, his wife was making the shirt he wore wet with her tears.
"… I thought you were dead…"
Her voice came to him like a haunting banshee's, and he couldn't answer her. He could try and would try to continue to comfort her, his hands on her back and his head soon kissing her ear. She took a gulp, and then continued.
"…Gaara said you were dead. I believed him. I… I was so… proud. That you 'died' that way. I… but… I was so…. I was so… so lonely. I-."
She glanced down.
"Your leg."
"Shh… shh shh. Don't worry about it. I guess, that's just the price I've got to pay. For putting you through all of this…"
She sobbed, and he continued to hold her.
"…I'm sorry-."
"I was so… I accepted it. I accepted it. I… 'my husband died a hero' I kept on telling myself. 'He's in a better place now.' 'Okuni has someone she can look up to now.' And… I… I used to do this shit to you all the time. I thought it was karma. I thought you were getting back at me."
"I wasn't. I-."
"God. I'm just sounding… selfish, selfish as hell. You just got back from being interrogated for months-."
Her hand accidentally touched one of the scars on Kankuro's back, and he hissed. She paused, then kissed him on his neck.
"We should get you inside. I've got a pot of rice on the stove and chicken in the oven."
"Don't… don't rush things. I just…" Kankuro's hold on her turned into a grip, and both of their words faded away. There was no need for anymore of them now.
Time began to pass them by like a hurricane, and soon they both lost track of time. Eventually, after the clocks had died, Kankuro lifted her head a little to plant a kiss on her forehead. Then…
"…Daddy!"
And that was the moment that Kankuro's heart broke.
He looked up and away from his wife for a few moments to see his daughter Okuni rush down the stairs inside their home to greet him. At the top of the stairs she had dropped her puppet, and as she made her way downstairs he could see it follow her. Once she was on the floor that he was on, his grip on his wife ceased, and he knelt down on his one remaining leg to meet her level.
And when she ran into his arms, he finally knew what heaven was like, and his suspended tears finally began to fall.
Okuni placed her arms around her father's neck, and then let her own tears fall as she began to cry loudly. Kankuro didn't know what he could do other than hold her, and hold her tight. This had been the little girl that he had given his honour up for, and, now that he was back in her life, he knew that he would've done so a million times again, and a million times over. Even as she cried. Even as she wailed.
Finally, his paralysis was broken as he began to hear her words.
"…You said one week…"
Her voice caused Kankuro to begin to cry out loud for the first time in a long time. Silently, Shiori fell to her knees to embrace both her husband and her child, and the little family stood in their formation crying together. From the bottom of the steps, Gaara watched, helpless, but yet strong.
Then, he heard Kankuro's wobbly voice again.
"…Thank you… brother. Thank you for letting me see them again."
Gaara wanted to tell Kankuro that he would've done it again without a second thought, but he found himself, as he had been so many times before, utterly astonished by the contrast in Kankuros that he knew. Kankuro of the Black Sands, the World's Greatest Living Puppeteer, the Second in Command of Sunagakure. The loving husband, father and brother. A murderer. A lover. A heartless bastard. An over-emotional son.
His brother. And the only blood-relative that he had left.
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Eventually, Kankuro, Shiori, Gaara and Okuni found themselves inside, where Shiori served them dinner.
It was a rather meagre serving, but in Shiori's defence, she had only been expecting her and her daughter to be eating it. It was served as quickly as she could, and therefore was hot to the touch, causing each member of the table to have to wait many minute before they could dig in. But they made the most of it. Shiori spent the time telling Kankuro of the progress that they had made on Eden, and Kankuro kept Okuni's attention, as well as her calmness, with asking more and more questions about her life at school. All the while, Gaara tried his best to allow he reunited to have their time. They had invited him in for dinner, but he still personally felt wrong about potentially interrupting their reunion.
"You keep saying that, but this could've only happened because of you," Kankuro stated. He was seated at the head of the table, to his right being his wife and to his left being his daughter. Behind his chair, Gaara could see his crutches rest.
"You ignored bullshit and stuck to your guns. Besides, you're my brother. You can come by for food or to chill anytime you'd want-."
"I know that you just got home… but no swearing in front of Okuni, boss."
Kankuro turned to face Shiori, and for a moment his face brightened. She narrowed her eyes.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothin'. Just that it's been a good long while since you've called me that. I've sort of missed that little nickname-."
"Shut up."
"Why don't you make me, sweetheart?" Kankuro bit his lip in a playful manner. Gaara blinked.
"Once again, Okuni is at the table."
The moment the reminder came back to him, Kankuro shivered, and then looked to his daughter. When she raised a brow in confusion, he placed a finger on his lips, and made a "shh" sound. She giggled back, and then finally began to eat some food from her plate. The rest of the adults did the same, before Okuni became curious again.
"…Dad? Can I ask you something?"
Kankuro rose an eyebrow knowingly.
"Of course sweetie. What's up?"
"What happened to your leg?" Kankuro placed his chopsticks down.
"I lost it."
"Yeah, I know that. But where and how?" Kankuro looked up, as if he was trying to find an answer, before looking at his daughter again.
"Do you remember how I told you me and your uncle were going off to fight some bad people? Back when I had to leave?"
"Yeah?"
"That's how. One of those 'bad people' took my leg." His right eye turned to Gaara, who simply sipped more of his tea. Can we truly call her bad…?
"Oh, ok! Can we get you a new one?"
"That's something that we're looking at sweetie. But don't worry about that. Until I get a new leg, me and you've got some catching up to do, don't we? How was your first year at school?"
"Mm… it was ok. I'm getting good marks in all my classes and I've met a lot of friends!"
"That's good. Have you started picking anyone out for your future squad?"
"I don't know yet it's only been a year. But I was thinking of doing something like you said you and uncle used to do. I don't have anymore siblings, but I could make friends. Then my squad could be like… a sand user, a puppet master, and a wind user! Then I could start to- Oh! That reminds me! You said at the beginning of the mission that you were going to find auntie, auntie Temari remember? So where is she? Did you ever find her? I-."
"Okuni, your father has just returned from a big mission. Maybe give him a few days before he answers all your questions?"
Okuni's large, brown eyes hardened, and her lips curled into a frown.
"Why not? It's just a yes or no answer-."
"No, sweetie, it's not."
Okuni's eyes travelled to her fathers, and she understood that something was amiss the moment their eyes met. Kankuro's previous jovial appearance had turned into one of stress and pain, and his lips quivered. Within him, he struggled with himself. Would he tell her the truth? Would he lie?
Could he come to grips with what he had done?
…Not today.
"… I have to think about it."
"What do you have to think about? I think it's a 'yeah we found her' or a 'no we didn't find her' type of thing-."
"Okuni."
The little girl crossed her arms.
"Fine. No more questions."
"I'll tell you when I know, Okuni. For now, let's just focus on school, and the other great things about our lives, shall we? After all…"
Kankuro gave her a sly smile.
"I finally know how the ending to the story of the princess…"
Okuni's eyes lit up, and she almost jumped out of her seat with excitement.
"Really?! How does it end!?"
Kankuro's smile simply grew.
"Oh, well obviously I can't spoil it. You'll just have to finish your dinner before I do that. And make sure that you eat all of it."
Okuni's eyes slowly moved to her plate. The broiled chicken, the fresh rice… and the broccoli.
"…Ew! I'll eat most of it, then you tell me!"
Kankuro frowned.
"Now… that's not our deal-."
"This isn't fair! I don't like broccoli!"
"I didn't like being away from you two for so long either, but I had to be. Sometimes in this life we've got to do things that we don't want to. And come on, they're good for you."
Okuni spent a few more moments pouting, and both her mother and her uncle began to stare at her. Embarrassed, she grabbed one of the vegetables into her mouth, and then, wincing, she began to shove them into her mouth. Between grunts and moans, she gave away an unhappy groan.
"The story better have a good ending!"
Kankuro laughed a little, and then resumed his eating.
"Well… I hope it does. Give me until your bedtime and I'm sure I'll remember."
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Kankuro of the Black Sands always had a great time telling his daughter bedtime stories, but since this was going to be his final session, it wouldn't work if he was only doing his regular work. No. He'd need to be at least ten times more entertaining to make up for lost time.
Gaara left shortly after Dinner, but not before being hugged by each of them. He had let Kankuro know that he was going to be placed on an enforce rehabilitation period of three months, and that he was to spend those days resting at home and catching up with the rest of his family. Kankuro reluctantly accepted, and once Gaara was gone, Shiori stated that she would meet him in their bedroom, brushing her hands on his good leg as she did. Meanwhile, Okuni had been almost ecstatic to hear the rest of the story.
So the two puppeteers rushed upstairs into her room, and as Okuni got into her pajamas, Kankuro put on his purple face paint and dimmed the lights. He reached into Okuni's sock drawer to take out his three little marionettes, all of them painted as the characters from his story. The hero, the villain and the princess. Each of them fit into the palm of his hand. He snickered to himself, and then as she climbed into bed ecstatically, he pulled up a stool and sat comfortable on top of it.
"Now, where were we? Do you remember where we stopped off?"
Okuni nodded fast and hard.
"Yep yep yep! The Princess just finished defeating the giant salamander, but she's injured! So the hero shows up, but now it's the two of them against the much stronger villain! So… how does it end?"
Kankuro threw each of his marionettes up into the air, and when they came to his level again he shook his hands to activate his puppet strings, causing each one of them to levitate in the air. Okuni clapped attentively, and Kankuro cleared his throat.
"Oh, how could I have forgotten? Right! So you see, the two, the Hero and the Princess, are about to go and fight the final villain. But you see, that's when the twist happens! Because as they travel to the villain's lair, they find that they have to go through the… um… the temple of visions! Yeah."
He quickly reached into his daughter's end table and took out a selection of black paper, and then quickly ripped it so that it would resemble a marionette. He lifted it up, and then began to twirl it around his hand before it floated in front of his hero and princess dolls.
"The temple of visions was controlled by a dark, dark man. We'll call him the vision-master. The vision master claimed to… um… he claimed to know about the past of the hero and the princess. So he split them up, and had them go through 2 separate trials, separate from each other. But the duration of their separation was long, 10 years, so long that eventually the two of them began to forget about each other. Instead, all they could hear were lies that were poured into each of their chambers by the vision-master. Each word that the vision master told him affected him more and more, but he held onto his sanity. It took him 10 years, but he finally completed his trials, and then moved into the princess' side of the trials. Once he was there, he hoped to escape the trials with her in tow, and then move on to attack the villain and finish him off once and for all."
As he spoke the story, his puppets followed, and so did Okuni's large and prying eyes.
"But… when he finally made it over to her side of the trials…" His voice paused.
"What happened?"
"Well, I guess I can't stop now, eh. Well it turned out that all this- that time, the Princess wanted to be with the vision master. You see, while the vision master had been torturing and tormenting the hero, he had been trying to, well, don't tell your mother I used this word, but seduce the princess. And it worked. The princess was madly in love with him, he had made the chamber he had trapped her in a home, and he had begun to spread nasty rumours about the Hero. When the Princess saw the hero, she instantly began to attack him, because she believed the lies that the vision master had told her."
"That's not right! Did the Hero try to stop her?"
"Of course he did. The Hero would've never hurt her, not even a little bit. He tried his best to not have to attack her, but in the back he could just see the vision master laugh. He didn't care about the princess, he simply wanted to get back at the Hero. The princess attacked the hero with everything she had, and eventually…"
Kankuro's voice paused, and his eyes narrowed.
"…. The Hero was forced to fight back. And when he fought back, he ended up hurting the princess really, really badly. The Vision master didn't do a damn thing to help her either. And when she died, he… just disappeared. Leaving the Hero all alone…."
"The hero was… shaken by what had happened. By what he had done. He would've given anything to go back in time and prevent her death from happening, maybe if he had prevented them from getting separated in the first place… then it wouldn't have happened. But… it happened. And now the Hero was alone. With two enemies on the other side of the war, with two people that he needed to get rid of in order to restore balance to the world…"
Kankuro then closed his eyes, and all of the marionettes in front of him fell onto the ground, making an ugly sound.
"…Never mind, precious. It looks like I can't finish this story yet. I forgot how it ends."
Okuni's large eyes slowly subsided, and she nodded solemnly.
"That's fine. I think it's getting late anyways, and I have school! So… when do you think that this story is going to be finished?"
Kankuro frowned.
"I don't know that. And I probably wont know for a long time…" His voice trailed off, and he began to get angry at himself for ruining his daughter's bedtime. That was until...
"That's ok! Take your time finding out the rest of the story, Dad." Then, she held out a small fist in front of her, offering it up to her father.
"…You just need to spend much, much more time with me from now on! And no more going away, not even for a little while!"
Upon seeing his daughter's naive optimism, Kankuro's down attitude couldn't help but rise. He gave her an earnest smile, and then fist pumped her.
"…Hey. How about this? Tomorrow is going to be Daddy-Daughter day…"
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By the time Kankuro made it to his own room again, it was late, and the house was deathly quiet.
When he opened the door, he saw that the sheets to his bed were opened on his side, a small lamp was on, and that his wife Shiori had put on her nightly clothes, but with alterations so that he could clearly view the more delectable places on her body. When he closed the door behind him and began to limp towards the bed, she immediately stood up, and moved herself to the edge of their bed so that she could pull him back into it with her. He was pulled off of his crutches, and soon he found himself on top of her. When their lips collided, he knew exactly what she had been planning.
They hadn't touched in over a year. In their relationship, the physical was extremely important, and they needed to rectify that error as soon as possible.
Eventually and wordlessly, Kankuro had gained the upper hand, and finished stripping his lover down to nothing. She made movements to do the same, but his skill in this made her vulnerable and soon she suffered attacked to her neck, stomach and breasts. When she had finally undressed him, she redirected her efforts back to his hairy chin and soft, succulent lips. He would soon have no more of her movements, and pinned her down on the bed beneath him, with his eyes pouring into hers.
For a few moments, they stood there, breathless and weak towards one another. Kankuro etched her face into his greatest memories, and hoped that no one else would peer. This was what he was fighting for. His beautiful, loyal wife, and his innocent little girl.
He'd gladly kill anyone who got in between him and them again.
His lips gracefully returned to hers.
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Shikamaru struggled to keep his eye trained on Naruto.
"…Come on buddy. I need to know. Was it Gaara? Was Gaara the one who did this to you?"
All around his tent, Shikamaru could tell the atmosphere had changed. It had barely been six hours since he had awakened from his coma, and yet he had been overburdened with praise and attention. As far as he knew, most of his old friends had come with Naruto, and now they all seemed to glare at their Kazekage.
Sasuke especially.
"Are you serious? Who else could it have been-?"
"I need to hear it from his mouth. He was the only one of us who was there."
Shikamaru shivered, and then turned his eyes so that he was looking down at the bowl of hot noodles in his lap. He was still pretty weak, and so along with his medication, Ino had put him on a steady diet with the aim of giving him his body mass back. But he hated these noodles. They were disgusting. He would've called them 'troublesome' if he had enough energy to waste words. Nonetheless, he still reached to suck some of the food into his mouth, down his throat and into his cold, cold stomach.
Then he looked back up into Naruto's eyes and saw something that he didn't like.
Pity. Embarrassment. For the man who had beaten him, taken his eye, and tortured him into insanity. Shikamaru slowly raised one of his hands up to point forwards at his Hokage. Naruto watched his friend, and his eyes softened.
"…Take your time buddy. Take your time-."
"No…No more… no more fucking begging for that man."
All around the room, everyone abruptly stopped what they were doing. If they hadn't been before, all eyes were on Shikamaru Nara. He took a deep breath, and continued, praying that the machine Ino had him hooked up to would allow him to finish his speak.
"…. He…. he hurt… look at what… yes. Naruto… Yes. He… he did this to me…. He… He captured me… held me for… months… tortured… blood… my eye… my head….my legs… arms… hands… eye…. My head… my head hurts so… so much… Tem… he killed my Temari. He… he… go after… he'll go after Shikadai… he'll go after my son… my… God my head…"
Shikamaru took a deep breath in, and spent a few moments simply breathing. When the look in Naruto's eyes turned into one of acceptance, Shikamaru finished his thoughts.
"…Dead… I want him… DEAD. No more… no more BEGGING! I… I want him DEAD! And… I want… I want to be the one… I want to be the one to do it! Both of them! I…. I want them DEAD!"
His voice had dipped and rose like his mood, and the yelling at the end caused Shikamaru to lurch forwards, holding his chest. Immediately, both Sakura and Ino moved to lay him back down, while the rest of the tent looked at injured man in awe. His mind truly had changed….
But what of Naruto?
Their heads turned to Naruto, who had closed his eyes soberly, as he mourned the death of his friend. When his eyes opened, they had the same conviction that Shikamaru's now did.
"…Then that's what we must do." Sakura and Ino had succeeded in calming the Nara leader down, but now Shikamaru laid on his back with his head to the side, his face flush with anger for a few moments, before he suddenly calmed down, and his face turned into a peaceful one.
"Gaara needs to be put down."
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I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Please read and review, I seriously love reading your reviews!
