ii.

chapter two - words can be weapons

Once Sasori began to attend the Ninja Academy, I started to see less of him at home. It wasn't because he wasn't there— it was more of an issue with our differing schedules. Due to my two-year-old body, I just wasn't able to make it through the day without at least one nap. Add on the fact that I went to sleep at a ridiculously early time... So, it wasn't really a surprise when I always managed to miss Sasori. The only time I really got to see him was in the morning when he was getting ready to leave for the Academy. He came home for lunch, but I was usually taking a nap at that time— and once his classes were over, Sasori would go off to train.

In short, I was beginning to really miss spending time with my brother. Maybe his absence wouldn't make me ache so badly if Chiyo was around more too. Instead, the old woman seemed just as busy as my six-year-old brother. Honestly, I saw more of her than I did Sasori though. Our Kage had recently admonished Chiyo for taking missions when she was supposed to be retired. The woman had been ranting about the meeting all day once she had returned home, going on about how the man threatened to put her back on active duty if she wanted to do ninja work so badly. I was pretty sure that the only reason she had been taking missions in the first place was so that she wouldn't have to apply for a 'boring civilian' job.

Either way, both of my precious family members were always busy with something. Their schedules had been busy for a time, but they had only really picked up once mother and father died. A part of me assumed this was their way of coping, and another considered that it was just a coincidence. Truth be told I didn't really care— not right now anyway. Definitely not right now. If those two assholes were actually home for once, I wouldn't need an annoying babysitter that couldn't leave me alone for a second to work on my chakra training.

After I turned two, Chiyo ceased hiring genin teams to watch me— instead, she enlisted the help of civilians (whose prices were extremely cheaper). Having three little genin watch over me was no problem, because they were ninja and didn't fret over every little thing, or care if I wandered off on my own for a bit. They did their own thing while I did mine, knowing that if anything was wrong they'd be able to sense it (either by my distressed cry or my unstable chakra). Now with a civilian? Things were completely different.

My usual babysitter was a civilian girl named Ruri Akishita. She had a plain and dull appearance, as did most people in Suna. I probably looked just as boring, but I'm pretty sure my adorable features made up for it. Her hair was long and pinpoint straight, taking on a dark brown color that could have looked better on her if it weren't for her sunburned scalp (I recoiled often when she got too close, wanting to be as far away as I could from the flakes that were shedding off into her hair). Ruri's eyes were just as bland, as they matched her hair color to a T. Not only did she look boring, but she acted boring as well. Her mannerisms, personality, and even voice were all parallel to each other and it drove me mad.

"Kyojin!" As if the stupid girl had heard my thoughts, she rounded the corner and entered Sasori's room (which was acting as today's hiding spot; obviously it didn't work so well). Ruri gave me a disapproving look as she hefted me up into her arms, "What did I tell you about running off like that! You're supposed to stay in my sight at all times— Hey, and is that one of your brother's books?" She lightly kicked at the large book that I had just been reading a second ago, obvious distaste on her features when she caught sight of the title: History of Sunagakure.

I grunted, not even bothering to voice a response. Ruri sighed loudly and trudged out of Sasori's room, continuing her rant as she walked through the house. "Honestly, what were you doing in there anyway? There's no way you were reading that big boring book, so what gives?" Blah, blah, blah. The girl could go on for hours, jumping from one topic to the next. She'd start off scolding me and then end the conversation with a praise.

Soon we were in the kitchen, Ruri placing me in one of the chairs at the table so that she could start on dinner. I was sure that she was going to continue talking, but the sound of the front door opening hushed her before she could say anything. I didn't have to look to see who had walked in, having already sensed my brother's chakra a few minutes before he had even reached our home. "Nii-sama!" I cheered, sliding out of the chair so that I could greet Sasori.

I latched onto my brother as soon as I could, my small body doing nothing to hinder his movements as he slipped off his shoes in the entryway. "Kyo," Sasori greeted me kindly, a small smile on his face as he ruffled my hair a bit. "How was your day?"

A frown marred my features, and that seemed like a good enough answer because Sasori began to smile in amusement. "Bad." I said with a clipped tone, glaring at the entryway of the kitchen.

Ruri was quick to show up after that, trying to act as if she hadn't been eavesdropping the whole time. The civilian had a huge innocent smile on her face; it was so big that I was getting pissed off by just looking at it… "Sasori-kun!" She exclaimed, reaching out a hand to ruffle the redhead's hair. My brother swiftly dodged her attempt at affection, a blank expression on his face as he regarded her. Ruri's smile tightened and she laughed nervously, "A-Anyway, you're home just in time! I just started dinner— it should be ready by the time your obaa-san gets home."

Sasori grunted, turning his attention back to me. He ruffled my hair once more before disappearing down the hall to his room— to do homework or study most likely. Once he was out of sight, I stuck my tongue out at Ruri and smirked before toddling away to join him.

"Saso-nii, please."

"No, Kyojin. You're not old enough to go yet."

"I don't wanna be a stu'ent! I just wanna go with nii-sama!" I groaned, refusing to remove myself from Sasori's back. My arms were wrapped around his neck securely as I whined into it. Last night I slept with Sasori with the intention of ambushing him in the morning with a special request.

Sasori sighed, gently pulling me off of him and placing me on his bed. I proceeded to pout, gripping at the sheets in a pitiful attempt to keep my 'tears' at bay. Before my brother could leave for the Academy, I had begged him to let me come with him. I couldn't take anymore of Ruri's presence and just wanted a break— plus I'd get to spend time with Sasori and see what Suna's Academy was like compared to Konoha's.

"Kyo…" My brother began carefully, looking into my brown eyes with utmost care. "If I take you—" A huge smile covered my face, and I looked ready to squeal out of pure joy. Sasori was quick to cut me off however, giving me a serious look. "—If I take you, you have to promise to behave. You can't run off or disrupt the class."

Right away I was nodding, willing to do anything if it meant I could escape Miss Boring Babysitter. "You got it, Saso-nii!" I exclaimed, grinning.

Sasori placed a finger to my mouth, shushing me. "Quiet. If you want to come with me, we're going to have to slip by Akishita-san. Now hurry and get dressed— remember; I don't like to be kept waiting."

"'Kay!" I slid off of Sasori's bed and slipped out his door. Ruri's chakra was in the kitchen, where she was preparing breakfast most likely. With her location known, I felt at ease as I moved across the hall and into my room. After getting ready, I met back up with Sasori who was now in the kitchen with Ruri, eating his breakfast. I sat down beside him, ignoring Ruri as I smiled at my brother. "Good mor'ing, nii-sama!"

Ruri was quick to latch onto my words, pouting as she placed a bowl of rice in front of me. "Hey, what about me, Kyo-chan? I made you breakfast!" She sat down across from me with her own bowl of food. "Also, you shouldn't be addressing Sasori-kun as 'nii-sama'! He's just your older brother; no need to treat him like a Kage."

I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to kick her under the table. Glancing at Sasori, I could tell he was less than pleased with her little comment. He actually liked being called 'nii-sama' and found it cute that I looked up to him so much. "Akishita-san—" He started, but was of course interrupted by Ruri's loud chatter.

"Oh, don't call me that! Ruri-chan is just fine, Sasori-kun~"

"...Akishita-san." Sasori picked up where he left off, "I will ask once that you don't correct Kyo's mannerisms again." There was a threat hanging off of that sentence, but the six-year-old didn't bother to voice it, leaving it to Ruri to figure it out. Of course she was too stupid to however, and pressed on.

"Hmph, it's Ruri-chan." She stuffed her face full of rice before finally speaking again. "And I can do as I wish, Sasori-kun. I'm the one in charge here after all— since I'm the oldest." Tch, she was probably only fifteen. "I'm only trying to help Kyo-chan get a hang of his grammar and manners."

Sasori smiled coldly then, slipping out of his seat despite the fact that there was still plenty of rice left in his bowl. He gathered his bag and made for the door (ignoring the lunch Ruri had made him completely), but not before giving me a knowing look. "I'm leaving now. See you after school, Kyo."

I nodded, slipping out of my own chair to give Sasori a hug. He returned it with one arm, absently pecking my forehead before finally slipping out the door. Rubbing the spot he kissed, I couldn't help but smile; it wasn't often that he would plant one on me, not since mother and father died— he even stopped referring to me as 'kyo-chan'.

"S-Sasori-kun—!" Ruri jumped out of her seat, scrambling for my brother's lunch before trying to catch him at the door. "W-Wait!" She was too slow however, and by the time she reopened our front door, Sasori was nowhere in sight. "Tch, darn it." She muttered before returning back inside, giving me a pointed look. "Just because your brother skipped out on breakfast, doesn't mean you get to. Go finish your rice, Kyo-chan."

"Sure, Ruri-chan~" I chirped, making her smile at my obedience. With a smile still on my face, I returned to the table— only I made no attempt to climb back up into my chair and instead looked back at Ruri. Meeting her brown eyes with my own, I swiftly knocked all three bowls of rice off of the table and onto the floor with a noisy clatter. The smile on Ruri's face disappeared in a flash. "Oops!" I giggled, quickly running off to my room.

"Kyojin!" Ruri practically screeched, caught between chasing after me or quickly cleaning up the mess I made. If anything, she'd probably reach the conclusion that I should be the one to clean it up, leading her to march straight to my room any second now. Too bad for her I had locked the door and was already preparing to slip out my window. Sasori was crouched down beside it outside, but he stood up at my arrival.

"What did you do?" Sasori asked me with a pleased smirk once my feet touched the ground. He eyed the door to my room, which was now shaking with how much force Ruri was using to bang on it. Distantly we could hear her yelling, but it was muffled due to the walls between us.

"Nothin' she didn't deserve." I replied easily, slipping my hand in Sasori's. We began to head to the Academy, which surprisingly wasn't too far from our home. I was never out of the house much, so the sights of Suna were still a bit new to me. Tearing my gaze from the small market in the center of town, I looked up at Sasori. "What are you goin' to do to Ruri-chan?"

Sasori gave me a sly look (something you don't see often on a six-year-old) before repeating the same thing I had said just a moment before; albeit with much better grammar. "Nothing she won't deserve."

。。。

We arrived at Sasori's classroom, and even though it was a little early for anyone to be there (meaning classes didn't start for another hour) the classroom was nearly packed with kids. They all looked like they were waiting for something, but it became apparent to me when they noticed Sasori's presence, that they weren't waiting for something, but for someone.

I'd laugh at the fact that my older brother seemed to have some admirers if the sudden onslaught of people didn't scare the crap out of me. Seeing so many people rush towards me caused flashbacks to my other life, where it wasn't people coming towards me— but the undead.

A small squeak left my mouth as I took cover behind Sasori, who fortunately seemed to sense my discomfort and gladly acted as my human shield (even if all those kids were after him and not me). One of his hands was holding mine as he faced the multiple boys and girls in front of him. It wasn't him who spoke first, but a young a girl with black hair tied in two pigtails. "Good morning, Sasori-kun!"

Like a domino effect, the one girl's greeting caused the rest of the kids to exclaim one as well. Sasori was obviously annoyed more by the sheer volume of their voices than the attention itself. I squeezed his hand, cautiously peeking my head out from behind him, "Saso-nii?"

The chattering came to halt, and all eyes settled on me. I thought I was going to be eaten alive until a chorus of 'awes' filled the room. Amazing how these puny twerps thought I was cute, when they obviously still fell into that category at this age.

"Hey, Sasori-kun has a baby brother!" A young boy with sandy blond hair came forward and announced the obvious. He grinned and bent down a bit to match my height. "Wow, you're just as pretty as Sasori-kun…" The boy reached forward, looking like he was going to touch my hair— only for Sasori to lash out and slap his hand away.

The boy recoiled with a surprised yelp, looking at my older brother with wide eyes. Sasori merely glared back at him before pushing me back behind him. "Don't touch him. He's my little brother."

Not wanting this to escalate any further, I tugged on Sasori's hand to get his attention. He took his time addressing me, choosing to linger on the poor boy that made the mistake of getting too close. "Saso-nii, we sit down now?" I began to bounce on my feet impatiently, making the redhead roll his eyes before he guided me to his desk (briskly ignoring the crowd that was still in front of us).

I was ushered into the seat closest to the wall, while Sasori took the one next to me. He put his bag on the long stretch of desk, ready to unload his needed supplies for the day. Around us, the other children were already chattering among themselves once again and returned to their seats.

"Remember," Sasori turned back to me with his usual blank expression. "Be good."

I nodded obediently, showing teeth as I tried to convey that I was going to be the personification of goodness. "Got it, nii-sama!" My loud outburst only earned a glare. "Oh! S-Sorry…" I laughed sheepishly, shrinking into myself a bit. Forgot to be quiet...yeah.

As we waited for the hour to pass by, Sasori explained to me what he had been learning in great detail so that I'd be able to soak up as much information as possible. Though the things he was learning were based more around reading, writing, history, mathematics…surprisingly normal things.

Since I was already somewhat familiar with how to read, write, and do maths— I focused only on my brother's explanation on Suna's history. From my past life, the only place I really knew a lot about was Konoha and well, that knowledge didn't look like it'd be useful anytime soon.

"Huh," A voice sounded near the room's entrance. "Once again, most of you are already here…"

Sasori didn't bother to glance up at the instructor's arrival, but various other students did— greeting the man with a 'good morning, kai-sensei'.

"I guess it is." He sighed, tucking the loose strands of his black hair under his hitai-ate, which he wore like a bandana. "Anyway, I guess we'll wait for the rest of your classmates to get here before starting…" He trailed off, slowly gazing around the room while he scratched stuff off on a clipboard (probably doing roll call). Kai's gray eyes slid to a stop on my form, prompting me to smile innocently and wave.

"Mor'ing, Kai-sensei!"

"Uh… Sasori-san, why don't you introduce us to your new seatmate?"

My brother slowly gave Kai his attention, blinking once before giving an explanation to my presence. "This is my little brother, Kyojin. He wanted to see what the Academy was like so I let him come with me."

"Okay… So Kyojin-san, you're not gonna be a pain are you?"

I shook my head, giving a close-lipped smile before I replied. "No! I'm good, sensei!"

Kai shrugged, seeming satisfied with my answer. "Alright then. Just know that your little visit here is only going to be a one time thing until you actually enter the Academy. Also, don't expect to be included in any activities— you're just a shadow for now, got it?"

"Uh huh." I nodded, looking serious as I met the chūnin's eyes with my own. He hummed in response before continuing with checking who was here or not. Sasori had gone quiet beside me, not bothering to resume his little teaching session from before. This made me frown, and I pulled at his shirt to get his attention. "Nii-sama…?"

"Class is starting soon. I'll finish telling you about this stuff at lunch, okay?" My brother explained, looking at me in the corner of his eye and giving me a reassuring smile.

"Un!"

Lunch time came, but instead of being tutored some more on our village's history— I got to see what Ruri looked like when she was completely panicked. This was equally satisfying however.

"There you are!" The civilian girl screeched. She was out of breath, and her hair was a mess. All in all she looked hysterical, much to Sasori and I's amusement. "Have— Have you been here the whole time!?"

We both stared numbly up at Ruri from where we sat in the shade of the Academy building. "Yes." I replied, as if there wasn't anywhere else I could have been.

Ruri grit her teeth, her fear and concern becoming overwhelmed by pure rage. "Urgh, you— Come on, I'm taking you home!" She stepped forward with her arms stretched out towards me. Before she could make a grab at me however, Sasori quickly jumped up and moved us away.

"Leave Kyo alone."

"Sasori-kun," The brunette nearly cried, "Please don't be like this. Your obaa-san will be absolutely livid if she finds out I lost one you."

"I know." Ruri lunged at us again, but Sasori easily sidestepped her. It was painful how slow she was moving, but I guess that was a given due to her civilian status.

Other students were watching us now, and a few had even gathered around to watch (at a safe distance from the crazy lady of course). I even spotted one of the teachers slowly approach us, a confused expression on her face as if she didn't really know how to label the current situation.

"Kyojin, come here right now!" Our babysitter shouted, stomping her foot into the sandy ground (so it was hardly intimidating).

I raised a single eyebrow before dramatically clutching to Sasori and screaming at the top of my lungs. On cue, tears sprung from my eyes as I pleaded for help. "No! Please make 'er stop! Make 'er go away!"

Just like that, the available chūnin instructors appeared in front of us. I recognized Kai as one of them, and the female that was originally approaching earlier. While Kai and two others confronted Ruri, Sasori and I were escorted away from the area by two other instructors.

Ruri was yelling at Kai and the others to let her go. That she had to take me now, or she'd get in trouble— that I wasn't supposed to have left her sight in the first place. Maybe if she wasn't so wired, Ruri could have worded her explanation less suspiciously, but alas...it was too late for that now.

Sasori and I exchanged knowing looks as we were led back into the Academy building.

Chiyo came home early that day after she had to leave work to confirm that yes, Ruri was our babysitter and that no, she wasn't a crazy civilian trying to snag a child. It was hard to tell if Chiyo was upset at what we did to Ruri, or if she was extremely amused. Either way, the girl quit and I was now stuck without a babysitter— which was fine with me.

"I don' need a sitter." I explained to my grandmother as she prepared dinner that night. Sasori was in his room doing homework, so we were the only ones in the kitchen currently.

Chiyu hmphed rather loudly, "That's what you think, but if you were left here alone, how would you fix yourself anything to drink or to eat? You can't reach any of the shelves or cabinets." The woman looked at me in the corner of her eye as she smirked, "Maybe you don't want a babysitter, but you do need one."

I huffed, crossing my arms in front of me. If that wasn't reason enough for me to have a sitter, then I'm sure Chiyo had plenty more. With a childish frown still in place, I took a seat at the table. "...So what now?"

"Well, if I can't find another civilian to watch you; I'll have to start requesting for genin teams again. That means more money to pay and—"

"Less time wit' us. I know." I huffed, sinking lower in the chair.

Chiyo chuckled lowly, obviously pleased with herself. "Good. I'm glad you understand then, Kyo-chan." The woman focused on dinner then, beginning to hum as she worked. Resting my head on the table, I watched her with a content smile. In the end I didn't get my way, and yet I didn't mind at all.

。。。

Daniel ran through his front yard; the yard he grew up playing and running around in. It was no longer the well-maintained plot of land that it used to be; instead it was covered with grass that scratched your ankles, and gore that seemed endless.

He swung at the zombies that tried to catch him, stabbing one in the neck with his cleaver, and another directly in the head. At first, he struggled to remove the blade from the skull, but with a kick to the dead thing's chest, it slid right out.

Daniel grimaced a bit at the sound it made before continuing to run away from the many other zombies that had taken refuge in his yard. He had to protect his mother and Max. They were all he had left, and he wasn't going to lose them to these...these things.

"Fuck off!" He yelled angrily, taking down another walker. Running around in circles was making him dizzy, but he did his best to work past it. There were probably five zombies left, and his arms were already starting to ache.

Daniel leapt back, nearly tripping over a toy that belonged to his brother, as a zombie fearlessly lunged at him. He inhaled sharply at how close its jaws came to his arm, quickening his steps. Maybe he could lure them to the backyard and then signal for his mother and Max to make a run for it. Their car was right there; so close and yet, so far.

Turning on his heel, the male pushed forward into his backyard. The zombies followed him closely, his grip tightening on the knife's handle as his palms began to sweat, making things slippery.

As soon as he rounded the corner, Daniel regretted it. He froze in place at the large number of walkers that were clambering around the backyard. Since the yard was so small, the things were all clustered together. And at the very front of the group, with his intestines hanging out of his body, was Daniel's father. A man he had just seen hours ago.

"D-D-Dad?" His lips trembled, and the cleaver fell from his grip. He wanted to go forward and grasp his father's shoulders. Wanted to shake him out of this stupid illusion, because surely this wasn't happening. Daniel had seen his father disappear within a horde of zombies, but some part of him continued to hope that he was alive, despite the terrible odds.

Seeing was believing, however.

"No— NO!" With tears falling down his face, Daniel sprinted forward with newfound speed and stabbed the zombie in the head. There was no way he'd let the shell of his father continue to roam around in this hell.

The zombies began to overwhelm him, but the adrenaline kept Daniel moving in a flurry. He continued to stab and kick at the zombies, screaming hysterically the whole time.

"NO. NO. NO. NO!NO!NO!"

A zombie latched onto his shoulders, pulling him forward as its jaw descended on his neck—

"Wake up!"

Kyojin woke with a start, gasping as he sat himself up. His face was tear stained and his heart was beating rapidly. Absently, he placed a hand over it, his eyes still wide as he took in his surroundings.

He was awake; it was just a memory-turned-nightmare. Sasori was sitting on the bed beside him, one of his arms wrapped around Kyojin and rubbing his back— which was drenched in sweat.

"Are you okay?" Sasori asked, pure concern in his eyes as he looked at his brother.

The question seemed to affect Kyojin in some way, because his lips started to tremble and his eyes teared up once again. The brunet shakily nodded his head before latching onto Sasori like a leech, nearly knocking the poor boy off the bed. He held tightly to his brother's shirt, sniffling as he sobbed into the fabric.

A sad look was on Sasori's face, not liking that his little brother was reduced to a pile of tears. He didn't know what the nightmare was about, but it was enough to utterly hurt Kyojin, and that was enough to make him upset too.

Sasori pulled Kyojin closer to him, helping the boy into his lap as he hugged him tightly. He wanted to reassure Kyo that he was here, and that everything would be okay now, because he'd protect him.

"Come on," Sasori whispered, sliding off of the bed with Kyojin still in arms. "You can sleep with me tonight."

The only answer he received was a slight nod as he returned to his room. Sasori silently laid Kyojin down on his bed before slipping under the blankets with him. Kyo curled into him, still clutching his shirt as he closed his eyes in an attempt to return to sleep.

Sasori remained awake, watching his brother carefully to make sure all was well. The redhead reached forward, wiping away the last of Kyo's tears. Seeing him cry hurt and Sasori hoped that something like this wouldn't happen again.

As Kyo's big brother, he'd be sure to eliminate anyone that causes him harm or pain. If they made his brother cry— they're dead.

At age seven, Sasori graduated from Sunagakure's Ninja Academy. Being three, I was ecstatic at my brother's early graduation, but also a little unhappy that I wouldn't be able to join the Academy for another three years at least. I was growing impatient; afraid that I'd be unprepared for the events to come.

Luckily I wouldn't have to stress about it too much, as in celebration for Sasori's achievement, Chiyo decided to take us to the shinobi-focused market.

We walked through the streets of the place, going slow enough to take in everything. I knew Chiyo and Sasori were looking for specific things, while I was just trying to find something cool enough to add to my growing hoard at home.

There were many kiosks set up, but there were also actual stores you could go in that were much bigger and probably had a better selection than the stands did. Though I'm sure the items sold at the kiosks were much cheaper.

Our first stop was a clothing store that sold only ninja-focused outfits and armor. All of the colors were pretty bland, matching with the dullness of our country's desert. There was still a variety however, the colors ranging from tans and browns to soft maroons. The usual gray, black, and occasional white was also amongst the racks of clothing, but I knew Sasori wouldn't pay them much attention unless he had to.

I stayed obediently at Chiyo's side as we followed my brother around the store, watching as he'd stop to examine a piece of clothing before tossing it on his shoulder or put it back on the rack. After he got his desired outfits and pieces of armor, we bought the items and left to continue shopping.

"Nii-sama," I tugged at Sasori's sleeve before pointing at a carpenter's shop. "You use pup'ets, right?"

Sasori followed my finger to where I was pointing, and a smile slowly grew on his face. With a nod, he ruffled my hair. "I do. Thank you for showing me the store, Kyo."

I grinned, my cheeks heating up due to the pure happiness I felt at being praised by my older brother. From Sasori's other side, our grandmother cackled, moving to pat us both on the head. "My, my— just look at how cute my two grandchildren are!"

I gaped a bit at her, my face growing even redder as I huffed and looked away in embarrassment. Sasori was much more stoic in his displeasure, merely giving Chiyo a blank look before he focused back on entering the carpenter's shop. I quickly followed after him, leaving Chiyo to walk behind us as she continued to loudly cackle (scaring the passerbys who didn't seem to be used to her behavior like others were).

The shop owner greeted us, though I think Chiyo was the only one to acknowledge him; Sasori too focused on finding materials for his puppets, and me too focused on him.

"What do you need, Saso-nii?" I asked, looking around the shop. It was practically filled from top to bottom with various types of wood, glass, metal, and other things such as bolts and screws. Tools were also on sale; available for those that needed them.

"Just some wood." Sasori replied, eyeing the types of wood that were on display. Despite being in the desert, there was quite a selection. I had no idea that trees could exist in a desert, but plenty of tutoring from Sasori about puppet-making helped me realize it was entirely possible. There were plenty of trees out there, such as elephant trees, palo verde trees, and even ironwood trees. Sasori even took the time to go on about which wood worked best for making puppets, and which kind just didn't make the cut.

As uninterested as I was with the topic, I knew that Sasori loved to talk about his puppets and how artistic they were. Which was true, because puppeteers had to have some kind of artistic ability to make puppets that were as beautiful and eccentric as Sasori's were.

"Well then grab what you want, but don't get greedy!" Chiyo warned from behind us, a hand patting at the pocket in which she kept her ryo.

"Yes, obaa-chan." Sasori seemed to sigh in exasperation, gathering the things of wood he needed and already heading to the front counter.

After Chiyo bought all of the things Sasori wanted to make puppets with, we headed to what would probably be our last stop: the weapons store.

As expected, the place was crawling with shinobi and kunoichi: mostly newly made genin like Sasori. We ignored them, despite how persistent they seemed in getting my brother's attention. I didn't recognize any of the genin from his class, but then again, I didn't remember anyone from there either.

Instead of sticking to Sasori like I usually did, I decided to split off when I noticed how intrusive the other genin were going to be (one practically threw themselves at Sasori's feet in order to get his attention, but he merely stepped over them).

I browsed the many weapons and holsters that were around the store. Honestly, I was trying to find something Sasori might like. I wasn't going to bother looking for basic things like a set of shuriken. or ninja wire, and instead was trying to find something personal. Kind of a hard thing to do in a weapons shop, but this was our last store and nothing had really caught my eye at any of the previous shops.

Finally though, my eyes settled on a shelf full of kunai pouches. It was obvious that someone had been shuffling through them, as they were in a rather large pile and not organized at all.

Among the pile, I managed to spot something that I knew Sasori would like. Reaching into it, I pulled out the holster I was eyeing and smiled giddily. The pouch was made with simple colors and had an even simpler design stitched on the front of it: a scorpion. The small zipper on the pouch matched the design, making the little thing all the more special in my eyes.

I held the pouch close to my chest, quickly heading to where I last saw Chiyo and Sasori.

"Saso-nii!" I exclaimed when I caught sight of his mop of red hair. Running up to him, I clung to his side with one arm while the other hid the kunai pouch behind my back.

My brother stumbled a bit from my sudden impact. He looked at me curiously, "Is something wrong, Kyo?"

"Nope! Look what I found!" I stepped back and shoved the kunai pouch in front of me for Sasori to see. He seemed to look the thing over, taking in the design and structure of it. Slowly, a smile bloomed on his face— it even reached his eyes.

Sasori took the pouch from my hands, his smile still in place as he traced the scorpion design with his fingers. "It's perfect…" He looked up and ruffled my hair with his hand. "Thank you, Kyo-chan."

Kyo-chan.

A laugh left my lips, and I grinned up at my brother. It had been so long since I'd heard him call me that, so it was hard to be anything other than happy.

"No pro'lem!" I chirped, clinging to his side once again.

"Kyojin!" Chiyo yelled to me from my room. Today was our unofficial cleaning day, and we were all assigned rooms to do. While I got to do the bathroom and living room, Sasori had to do his room and the kitchen. This left Chiyo with her room, father's old study, and my room.

Uh oh.

Chiyo probably found my hoard… That's the only thing worth screaming about in there anyway. It was only a matter of time before someone found it, as it took up most of my closet and all of the space beneath my bed.

Sasori peeked into the living room from where he was in the kitchen, looking to me in amusement. He had been the first to figure out my hoarding habit, but had remained silent. I'd even caught him adding to my collection of shiny things every now and then.

I huffed a bit and pointedly looked away as I walked down the hall. "...Yes?" I asked my grandmother quietly when I reached my room. Looking inside, I saw that my closet door was wide open— revealing part of my collection. So far it didn't look like she had found the pile under my bed, thankfully.

Chiyo had her hands on her hips, a disapproving frown on her face. "What is all of this?" She roughly gestured to the trinkets.

Rocking on my heels and keeping my eyes to the floor, I mumbled, "That's my collect'in."

"Collection?! Of what? It's all just a bunch of junk!"

"No it's not!" I was quick to protest, my voice much louder than before. My eyes were now meeting Chiyo's in a moment of courage, which quickly faded when the woman's glare sharpened.

"Obaa-chan," Sasori entered the room, intentionally acting as my saving grace. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he spoke to Chiyo, "Kyo, has had the habit of keeping things for awhile now— and it makes him happy, so I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Anything wrong with it?" Chiyo repeated in a disbelieving tone, "He's hoarding trash and taking up space! I will not tolerate a messy house."

I started to sniffle, bringing out the crocodile tears as I clung to Sasori's shirt and hung my head. "B-But that's my favorite things…" Sasori sympathetically patted my head, "Baa-chan— please let me keep 'em!"

Chiyo watched me for a moment with calculating eyes, her foot tapping my bedroom floor as she thought things through. Finally she sighed and crossed her arms. "Alright, but you better sort through it each month and get rid of crap you don't really need. Once that pile becomes visible outside the closet, I'm throwin' it all out."

"Yes, baa-chan!" I exclaimed, bowing down gratefully with a huge grin on my face.

"Also," She fingered something inside her pocket before pulling it out. A shiny brooch was presented to me, "Add this to your little 'collection' and take extra care of it."

"Is it a family heirloom?" Sasori asked with wide eyes, staring at the accessory that was now in my hands with wonder.

"Eh?" Chiyo cocked a brow, "No, I just found it while on a mission. It looks too good to be sullied, so that's why Kyo-chan needs to take care of it!" She burst into a fit of cackles then, finding the misunderstanding hilarious for some reason.

Sasori and I sighed, but I silently promised to be careful with the brooch nevertheless. It'd be placed with the rest of the jewelry I was hiding away, which was in a steel box beneath my bed.

"Phew," Once she calmed down a bit, Chiyo sighed and wiped her forehead. "Now, let's get back to work!"

"Hai!" Sasori and I replied, quickly exiting my room to resume our cleaning.

author's note: after two months of slowly writing, i finally present chapter two. funny how i already have half of the story's chapters outlined, but i still take forever to update. anyway, i hope this chapter was decent. because it took two months to finish (nearly three).

my lovely beta fortheloveofb strikes again and presents you with a lovely edited chapter.

story rec: "a god's chessboard" by sylviaen-cross