Temari and Kankuro's sibling bond
Cw / rasa's abusive parenting, sand sib trauma
Rasa used to be strict but caring with his children. Temari had the vaguest memories of riding on her father's shoulders and bringing him her drawings of the desert cacti. She was a bold child, but kind, and hid her twinge of jealousy well when she learned that Kankuro would be born, and tried to comfort her mother when Gaara was expected, although she wasn't sure why Karura was upset. Kankuro was too young to remember anything like that. His first concrete memories of his father were after Gaara was born. They consisted of a raised voice, a hand slamming on the desk, and tears blurring his vision. Afterwards, Temari comforted him and brought him sweets.
As they got older, Rasa went from slapping the desk to slapping Kankuro. It never left a mark, but it stung Kankuro inside like nothing else. Temari would come home to find him sulking in his room, and drop her fan to hug him wordlessly until he finally let himself cry. Temari hated her father then. She hated that as the oldest, she couldn't protect her younger brothers from him. She also hated that while she hugged Kankuro, she was much too afraid to do the same for Gaara.
Temari and Kankuro's childhoods are both blurry. Neither can remember specifics, only recalling random events. The act of remembering is stressful. So in their adolescence, their bond strengthens. They tease each other and tell each other off in public to hide the fact that they still try to heal each other's hearts. Temari jumps to the rescue to mediate when Kankuro pisses off Gaara. Gaara is slightly milder around her, although she reminds him of their siblinghood too often. Kankuro hates children as he hates his own childhood, and he's hostile around Gaara. He wants to snap his brother out of it. But in private, him and Temari have already agreed that they would protect Gaara until the end. Not as the village's weapon, but as a final act of tribute to their lost younger brother.
After the failed Konoha invasion, Gaara becomes milder. The change is unnaturally sudden. He disappears for a while, and no bodies are found. Finally, he comes back, his clothes still caked in his own dried blood from Sasuke's chidori, and says: "Temari, Kankuro, I'm sorry. I want to change."
Kankuro stops picking on random children in the village. He and Temari have a long talk while Gaara is out of the house about Gaara's shift in energy. They're hopeful. They're still reserved around Gaara, but they start letting him in bit by bit to their bond.