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Kankuro stared at his ceiling. What the hell was he going to do? Temari planned on holding another party tonight. Sure, he hid the alcohol with some assistance from Gaara, but what if people entered his room? Why they would do that, he didn't even want to think about, but it was a possibility. Kankuro sat up and looked around his room. The shelves held, not books, but dolls and marionettes. He and his siblings left each other to their own devices, never stepped into each others' rooms unless necessary. Kankuro discovered this was odd, but he didn't really care. It allowed him to hide his doll-collecting (which Temari would make fun of) and his marionette-playing (which Gaara would narrow his eyes at). Because of the latter, Gaara once (after peeking into a shopping bag) actually asked if he was a pervert. Kankuro was understandably insulted. Why Gaara would put marionette and pervert together, Kankuro didn't understand, but he didn't really care. It merely made him wonder exactly what went on in his brother's head.
Kankuro clearly remembered when he bought his first doll. It was back when Gaara was four and confined in the safety of their home and Yashamaru's arms. It was Kankuro's first time outside of the house. Temari had showed him around the square, where his kindergarten would be, why you didn't trust strangers, and where the few shopping centers were located. Their dad was with them, but not paying much attention to everything they were doing; he was too preoccupied with keeping kidnappers, murderers, and pedophiles away. The doll had been a china doll, with long black hair and a purple kimono. Kankuro for the life of him couldn't tell anyone why he was able to find such a pretty thing in Sunagakure. Then again, he was perplexed as to why anyone would send food supplies to Sunagakure, too. The doll had cost him fifty ryo. He had been collecting ever since.
He picked the china doll back up and cradled it in his arms. Her kimono was now torn up and she was missing a sandal. Her hair looked like it was in desperate need of shampoo, and the name he had given her escaped him again. Ever since he found out that Yashamaru died, he couldn't remember her name. He didn't know why, and if he did know, he probably wouldn't understand it. He still loved it the most, however.
Kankuro frowned as he reminded himself that his most prized possessions were what caused him such distress at the moment. Stupid Temari and her partying antics, Kankuro thought, they always go wild, she always ends up drunk, and I have to keep a bastard or five from stealing something, not to mention the headaches it gives Gaara. The boy shuddered as he remembered one time when Gaara's headache got so bad that he forced everyone out, and not necessarily out of the house. Kankuro wondered if the bloodstains were still on the living room wall. They probably were.
Kankuro sighed and set the doll back on its shelf. He'd just have to lock his bedroom door, like he did last time. He just wished that he had a key to his door already. Gaara never needed one. Gaara never locked himself out of his room. He only locked himself in it. "It's stupid to lock yourself out, Kankuro," Gaara once said. He was right, but what would be even stupider would be letting those renegade teenagers near his fragile, breakable dolls. The marionettes he could fix, but he had run out of the proper glue for the dolls. He couldn't yet find a store that sold it in Konohagakure, either.
Kankuro sighed again. This party was going to be a real pain. He couldn't help but wonder, however, exactly how rowdy Konoha teens were. Hopefully not as rowdy as Sunagakure teens because that would be a nightmare.
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Temari smiled as she handed out invitations.
"You're holding a party?" Tenten asked, looking at the invitation with interest. "When is it?"
"Tonight! You don't have to dress up, no one in Suna ever does," Temari said.
"I accept!" Lee said happily.
Neji looked at the invitation, turning it over in his hand.
"I don't think I can go. I have to baby-sit my cousins tonight," Neji said, handing the invitation back to her.
"They can come too if they want," Temari said.
"I don't know. Hinata-chan doesn't like crowds, and Hanabi-chan hates anything that remotely relates to having a social life. And this is a seven-year-old we're talking about."
"Then they can hang out with Gaara and Kankuro because Gaara always locks himself in his room anyway and Kankuro hates the fact that I throw parties."
Neji raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're suggesting I let my female cousin hang out with your brother by themselves in his room?" Neji said, his voice dripping with disapproval.
"If it was any other boy, I definitely see your point. But Gaara doesn't seem to have any interest in girls, let alone other people. They can bug Kankuro if it bothers you so much, though."
Temari and Neji stared at each other for a few more moments. Neji then pocketed the invitation.
"Thank you for the invitation. I'll be bringing Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan."
"Great!" Temari said, turning around and walking down the hall.
"Who else are you inviting?" Tenten called after her.
"I thought that I guess I could be a little nice and invite some of the seventh graders. Besides, Neji's younger cousins get to come, so why not Naruto? Gaara seems to like his company, anyway." Temari replied.
"How can you tell? Your brother's like a statue, completely vacant of emotions."
"After you lived with him long enough, you're able to tell. He doesn't leave the room when we're studying, and usually he'd never put up with my racket."
-
Gaara groaned. He thought Temari didn't know these many people. Correction, he knew Temari didn't know these many people. He thought that she knew better than to let strangers into her house. That was the only reason why Gaara wasn't up in his room ignoring it all the best he could. He wanted to keep an eye on every single one of them, especially the dark-blue-haired kid. Gaara couldn't remember his name, but he knew that the boy didn't like him. The kid in the white jacket with the high collar looked rather suspicious, too. Common sense mentioned that Gaara himself must've looked rather suspicious to all of them, but not even common sense was brave enough to contradict him.
Gaara rolled his eyes when he found Kankuro. Apparently, Kankuro befriended every girl in their class. Perhaps Kankuro hoped that a female wouldn't ridicule him for his doll collecting? (Yes, he knew all about that.)
He found Temari talking with Lee, Tenten, and Neji and, after making sure she hadn't found the hidden alcohol, left to check up on the household.
The lazy kid and the fat kid lounged near the food table, and seeing that the fat kid was eating most of it, and the lazy kid had no motivation to do anything let alone poison something, Gaara deemed them safe. One of the boys brought his dog with him and he was chatting with the kid with the white jacket. The dog (or was it a very hairy, very big rat) sat on the boy's head. The canine glanced over at him and sniffed the air around him. The dog mustn't have smelled anything it didn't like because it ignored Gaara after that. The red-head decided they were harmless. There was only one person in that room who he wouldn't call completely harmless and that was the dark-blue-haired kid. It didn't matter that Naruto was talking to him as though they knew each other really well. He didn't trust him, not one bit.
Gaara seated himself in a chair near the dark-blue-haired boy and Naruto, not bothering to hide the fact that he was keeping an eye on him. The boy noticed Gaara's stare very quickly. He glared back, and the glare caught Naruto's attention. The blond turned around and noticed Gaara.
"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto greeted. "Gaara, this is Sasuke, my best friend. Sasuke, this is Gaara. We've been stuck studying together because his sister's my tutor. He's not that bad, actually. Doesn't talk much, but isn't bad."
"Hello, Gaara," Sasuke said rather venomously.
Gaara grunted. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. Gaara ignored him after that.
"Naruto," Gaara said, and after a pause, "what's your family like?"
Naruto blinked. He obviously didn't expect to be asked that.
"Well, Mom died giving birth to me. Dad and I live in an apartment. Dad is the head of the police force here and his second-in-command is Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. They visit my place often enough. My aunt's the principal at our school; you know Tsuande-sensei, right? My uncle is Jiraiya, the author of Icha-Icha-Paridise, the most perverted book in existence. My cousins, Shizune and Kabuto, are their kids. Shizune's adopted and she's around eighteen. Kabuto's their biological kid and he's around sixteen; he'll be graduating Konoha High this year and will be going to the same four-year college as Shizune. Both of them are going to become doctors; Shizune's going to specialize in cardiology and Kabuto's planning on being a neurologist, but he's really interested in orthopedic stuff, too," Naruto replied, glad he finally was able to talk with the boy.
According to Naruto, Gaara was the most bearable of the siblings. He was kind of cool, too. He'd caught a glance of the kid's room; it was the coolest room he'd ever seen, and that's including Sasuke's, and Sasuke's was pretty cool.
"What about you?" Naruto asked friendly, hoping to find out more about the red-head.
There was a very long pause before Gaara said something.
"According to a rather distraught Kankuro, I'm technically my mother's murderer. I only have my father, Temari, and Kankuro, but there was my uncle Yashamaru. He was murdered two months before we moved here," said Gaara.
They were suddenly interrupted by a happy cry.
"WOOHOO! I FOUND IT!"
"Found what?"
"The liquor!"
Gaara let that sink in for two seconds. So did Kankuro.
"TEMARI! YOU PUT THOSE BOTTLES BACK!"
"Temari-nee-san. Put them down. Or I hurt you."
Temari stuck her tongue out at Kankuro, but froze as Gaara pulled out a knife. The knife looked like no one had bothered cleaning it after its last slaughter.
"Put them down," Gaara repeated.
"Ah, of course! Yes, of course! No idea what I was thinking, bringing these out. I guess I just get wrapped up in the party sometimes! Heh eh heh!" Temari said nervously, putting the bottles back in its cabinet.
After the bottles were locked up again, Gaara hid the knife. Temari and Kankuro sighed in relief.
Sometimes Gaara was scary.
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Red Roses2: Feel free to share ideas on Yashamaru. Except for you, Se-Isis. You can't because you DO know. That wouldn't be fair. Please review. And you better. (Death Glare)