A.N: So, I had this silly idea that would've worked great as a short comic, but since I can't draw, this is the end result.

Sore Spot

Kankuro stares at the shõgi board, almost but not completely sure of his next move. He glances across the board at his opponent, but he was staring at the board just as intensely, if not more so. Eyes returning to the board, he seals his decision by moving a piece. His opponent doesn't wait nearly as long before moving his own piece. Kankuro supposes that his move had been an expected one. He's more surprised than he should, he's sure. This time, he doesn't take as long to move a piece. Neither does his opponent. The game gets fast, and the man wonders if he's being led in to a trap. That wouldn't be so surprising; his opponent had been learning from the best of the best, after all… hm?

Kankuro hesitates, but then moves one of his pieces, realizing that for once, he was close to victory. If his opponent doesn't notice-

His opponent moves a piece quickly. Had Kankuro himself missed something?

…No, no he hadn't! If he moved that piece now-!

"Victory!" Kankuro cheers as he moves his opponent's beaten king off of the board "For once, I beat a Nara!"

He faces his opponent, seeing those teal eyes intently staring at the board, a frown creasing the forehead above them and the chubby cheeks forming a pout.

"Yes, you beat a Nara" Gaara says from between the two where he's been watching the game from "A three-year-old one, that is."

Kankuro grins at his brother.

"A Nara is a Nara" he says "And I won!"

He sees his three-year-old opponent, his nephew, now scowling at him, but he's not too worried. Only three he may be, but the kid already had his mother's stubborn pride. It wouldn't allow him to start wailing for something like this.

"A Nara that can't yet even pronounce his own name" Gaara points out the fact they'd learned earlier that day.

"Yeah, but- "Kankuro stops mid-sentence as he hears a sniffle. Then another. He looks at his nephew, looking at them wide eyed, sniffling. Kankuro realizes that he may have miscalculated.

Shit.

"Hey now, Shikadai, don't- "

The child's ear shattering wail interrupts him, and he curses.

"Look what you did!" Gaara hisses, moving to take the crying child in to his arms, but freezing as Shikadai only starts crying harder when he touches him.

What do they do?

"What's going on?"

To Kankuro's relief and horror, he sees Shikamaru walking towards them through the garden.

Thank God it was him and not Temari.

"Papa!" Shikadai yells, arms held out as he hops off the porch with his bare feet and runs over to Shikamaru, who picks him up with practiced ease.

"What's wrong, buddy?" he asks "Did your uncle cheat in shõgi?"

"I did not!" Kankuro protests, but Shikamaru ignores him.

Shikadai holds on to the front of his father's shirt, looking up at him.

"Uncle Gaara is mean!"

Five seconds of silence follow as the brothers stare at their nephew.

"…What?"

"Is he now?" Shikamaru asks, also clearly surprised, but he hides it better.

"What…? I didn't…" Gaara stutters, looking back and forth between now amused Kankuro, confused Shikamaru and the still sniffling toddler "What did I do?"

They all look at Shikadai, for no one else has any idea what Gaara did. Kankuro's relieved to be off the hook, and now he's curious to know where his brother messed up. And after he did, he'd know what not to do in order to not have furious Temari after his head.

Shikadai turned his teary eyes to face Gaara, and then glared. It was by no means a threatening sight on such an adorable, chubby face, but Kankuro could already see the resemblance to Temari. Few more years, and the kid would awaken fear even in the bravest of shinobi, he was sure.

"Uncle Gaara is mean!" the toddler repeats before burying his face in his father's shirt. The three men sweat drop, realizing that they won't be getting any answers from the child. Shikamaru sighs, adjusting his grip on his son. Kankuro's sure the man wants a smoke right about now, but he knows Temari has forbidden him from smoking around Shikadai.

"What exactly happened?" Shikamaru asks "Go backwards from when he started crying."

Kankuro and Gaara share a look.

"Well, we played shõgi and I won- "

"Petty" Gaara mumbles, and Kankuro glares "I did win, and I did not cheat!"

"You, an adult, won against a three-year-old; that's hardly an accomplishment"

"Yeah yeah, I heard you the first time" Kankuro mimics Gaara's voice "You beat a three-year-old that can't yet even pronounce his own name."

"Ah" Kankuro can see the moment Shikamaru gets it, but he's not sure what exactly the man has understood "That explains it."

"What explains what?" Gaara asks with a frown, crossing his arms.

Shikamaru laughs, patting his son's head.

"Shikadai doesn't like it that he still has trouble with spelling the letter D properly" Shikamaru explains "Even Inojin can do it, and he's not even three yet, so it eats away his pride."

Oh.

Kankuro is trying really hard not to laugh. Anyone looking at him could tell it from his face but, thankfully, his nephew isn't looking; Shikadai's face is still buried in Shikamaru's shirt. So, the boy doesn't see, and Kankuro manages to not make a sound. The boy is and will be mad at only Gaara.

"I'm sorry Shikadai; I didn't mean anything bad by it" Gaara tries to console the toddler as he walks over. The chubby face turns to him only briefly, a frown on it, before turning back to where it was. The small child doesn't say a thing.

"…Yeah, that will probably take a while" Shikamaru laughs awkwardly "Sorry, don't take it personally. It's just that Shikadai- "

"Is stubborn like his mother" Kankuro finishes with a snort "You'll have your hands full with that one, Shikamaru."

"I know" the man says before turning his attention to his son. He pulls the boy away from his chest so that he can see his face "How about we play some shõgi?"

Shikadai lets out one more sniffle before saying: "I'm gonna win this time!"

The father lets his son down, and the toddler runs back to the game board, clearly making a point of turning his head away when he passes by Gaara while he's at it. Kankuro watches on, amused. He still kind of hated brats, but that didn't extend to his nephew. The kid was fun to watch.

Still, he swore he'd never get kids. And with how miserable Gaara looked after simply making their sister's child a little upset, he was sure his brother wouldn't, either.

It was only a few years after that Kankuro was proven wrong when they took Shinki in, but that's another story entirely.