The two brothers arrived at a park which was mostly empty except for an old man walking his dog. The children of Sunagakure were still in school for now. Gaara looked around and sat on a swing. He looked back towards Kankurou. "Hey. Push me."

"Push yourself, brat."

"Please?"

"…"

Gaara sighed and began swinging. "Just like always. I end up alone and doing things for myself. If my mother was here-" He felt pressure on his back as Kankurou began to propel him on the swing.

"Stop the guilt trip. I get the point." However, his eyes were not on Gaara but rather they were hawkishly looking around for people that might recognize him. He took Gaara to the most whole in the wall park for the sole purpose of not being seen but a ninja could never be too careful.

The wind against his skin felt good to Gaara. If felt even better that he didn't have to do anything to get it. He wondered idly if things would have been this way if he had not been born abnormal. Kankurou used to look at him with fearful and cold eyes but now he's mostly just irritated with Gaara. Temari has been trying, he mused, and he appreciated her effort though we wasn't sure just how to show it to her. Gaara looked back and Kankurou was looking at him.

"Do you want to go higher, twerp?" He asked gruffly. Gaara nodded. Kankurou nodded and pushed higher. Ground then sky, ground then sky. It was soothing to just watch the world pass. No worries. No battles. Just the swing.

Kankurou felt something his cheek. He took time to wipe it away after he pushed Gaara and found that it was water. He looked up at the sky but there was only the bright blue sky and a few white wisps. He pushed Gaara idly with one hand when another drop of water hit him on the nose. "Eh?" Gaara dragged his feet on the ground, bringing the swing to a halt. He sat there for a few minutes, head hung.

The oldest son of the former Kazekage put his hand on Gaara's back and noticed the shuddering beneath his fingertips. His little brother somehow found himself weeping. "Gaara?" Instead of answering, the red haired boy stood and walked over to an abandoned ball in the sand. It was the same as the one from that incident. Unremarkable but it still pained him.

"Ya…Yashamaru…," he whispered. "Did you really mean it? Did you really mean it when you said that deep down inside you hated me because I killed mother? Is it that same with them?" He dug his fingernails into the ball. "Is it the same…with my sib-"

"Come on." Gaara turned around and Kankurou was standing there with his hands in his pockets slightly slumped forward. "Time to go home. But … I'll get you some ice cream if you promise not to tell 'Mom'."

Gaara wiped his eyes. "I like ice cream."

"Yeah? What's you're favorite flavor?" his brother answered with a smile.

"Um…" Gaara looked at the ball but dropped it idly. "I guess…chocolate or strawberry."

Kankurou seemed to consider this, rubbing his chin with his eyes closed. He opened an eye. "What about…Chocolate and strawberry? Double scoops. Cone or cup?"

Gaara looked disgusted. "What a stupid question. Cone." He walked away from the abandoned ball and up to Kankurou. "Can I get three scoops? I want two chocolate with strawberry in the middle."

His brother put a hand on his head. "Yeah, I guess. You're a growing kid, you need your vitamins."

"Ice cream doesn't have a vitamins. It has sugar which is more important to me." Kankurou gave him a look but Gaara was looking ahead. He smiled at how Gaara could sometimes turn his emotions on and off and look like he cared about nothing at all. He supposed that it was something that Gaara was constantly having to do. How sad.

"Well, I guess I'll definitely have to by three scoops then."

The brothers sat together at a bench. Kankurou got one scoop and Gaara was struggling with his three. The sun was viciously trying to melt his cone before he was able to eat it. He was rotating the sugar cone constantly trying to keep his fingers clean but he was failing.

Kankurou looked over. "Need help, 'son'?"

"No," Gaara replied indignantly. A drop fell into his lap. "Crap."

"You sure you don't want help."

"Shut up. I know how to eat an ice cream cone," Gaara demanded. The top scoop began sliding to the left. "Shit!" The young boy began to eat the top scoop furiously but had to stop as he held his head. "Ow, ow, ow! Brain hurts."

With a sigh, the older boy snatched the cone away from his brother and began taking large bites out of it, reducing it to a more manageable size. Gaara glared at him as he was handed back the cone.

"Now it has your disgusting spit on it…" Kankurou swallowed. "Ugh…"

"You want it back?" He pretended to try and induce vomiting over Gaara who shoved him away with a sticky hand.

"You're a freak and disgusting." Gaara finished the cone and began to lick his fingers. "I want to go home now." His brother nodded and they both began walking the few blocks to their home in the country of Wind. They walked in relative silence for a while before it began to bore Gaara. Tentatively, he tapped his brother on the back. Kankurou turned back and raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Hm?" He looked down at Gaara who looked up with a slight smile.

"Daddy… I want…a piggy back ride." Kankurou almost fell over from shock but that was quickly replaced with irritation.

"HELL NO! HELL NO!"

Gaara sighed and shuffled forward. "It's all right. You probably couldn't carry me anyway. The weight of my sorrow and sin even weighs me down. I don't know how I could expect my brother to be able to support that kind of-" He stopped. Kankurou was kneeling in front of him looking perturbed.

"Get. On. And. Shut. Up." More than happy to oblige, Gaara put his arms around Kankurou's neck and wrapped his legs around his waist. The young boy weighed no more than his puppet so lifting him was more than easy. Kankurou started walking, Gaara's chin resting on the crown of his head. He stopped for a second. "Can I stop now?"

"Are my sins and pain too-"

"SHUT UP!" Kankurou continued walking. He and Gaara got few looks but most were a little surprised. At least it wasn't anyone that they knew.

"Ah, Kankurou I see you got a new…." Baki, their jounin instructor stopped dead as he came out of a grocery story. "That's not a puppet."

"No."

"That's Gaara."

"Yes." Kankurou fidgeted and readjusted Gaara on his back.

"Is he hurt?"

"Only mentally but that's nothing new."

"…. I don't understand."

"He's my daddy," Gaara stated blandly.

"… I… see…" Baki cleared his throat and walked away in a little of a hurry.

"Good job, you scared our jounin."

"He had it coming," Gaara replied a matter-of-factly. With that they continued walking on. After a another block their home came into view. It was at this time that Kankurou bent down and broke into a dead run. Gaara gritted his teeth and held on tightly to his brother's waist. The move was unexpected and he could imagine his brother dropping him like a moron. Granted the sand would cushion his fall, he'd much rather not go through that at all.

Kankurou slid to a stop at the door, panting a little and looked back at Gaara giving that grin that Temari used so often. "How as that?"

Gaara turned his head and jumped down, pocketing his hands. It was quite the thrill but he tried to play if off as mediocre. "It was all right." He opened the door and stat on the stoop to take of his sandals. Kankurou just scratched his head and followed suit, muttering something about 'brats'.

"There's my baby!" Temari threw her arms open. "Come to mommy, Gaara." Gaara stood up and hugged her tightly. They both looked at Kankurou who looked back in the most purest form of disgust possible.

"You are both going to make me puke," he growled and shoulder past them.

Temari looked at Gaara. "So when will you evil end, little brother?"

"When will yours?" She paused then started to cackle evilly. "That's what I thought."

The rest of the day, Temari babied Gaara to the point that at dinner she spoon fed him. Kankurou couldn't stand it and tried his best to ignore them. But he couldn't when Gaara sat next to him on the couch and was staring at him. At first he could pretend that he wasn't there but he could eventually feel his stare boring into his brain.

"WHAT?!"

"Where do babies come from?" Gaara asked solemnly. Temari, in the kitchen, laughed out loud and there was a loud thump as she fell on the floor from laughter. Kankurou's eyebrow twitched.