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Rain fell from the sky in heavy droplets. The rain pounded on the pavement and Kankuro's head. Lighting clashed and thunder sounded, creating the opera of the sky. Kankuro jumped as a car crash occurred near him, sending someone straight through its windshield. The person landed in front of Kankuro, blood flowing onto the sidewalk. Kankuro stood there, panting. He stepped around the body that seemed to still be alive from the moaning the person made. He then dashed down the sidewalk again. He took out his cell phone and dialed an ambulance.
"Hey, there was a car crash down the road on . . . Sakura Highway. There's someone who's bleeding really bad. I don't know about the others. Sorry, I have to hang up. Just remember: it's on Sakura Highway."
Kankuro hung up and continued running. He had to find the police station. He didn't know what he was going to tell them, but he couldn't just keep the fact that a mafia head was in Konoha, could he?"
Well, he could. It was his father.
But the mafia had been responsible for so much bloodshed and rape and kidnappings in Suna. He couldn't just stand by and let the same happen to Konoha!
But it was his father. His father wouldn't purposefully let that happen to anyone, would he? He loved Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara after all. And none of that happened to them.
But hadn't his father mentioned sexual harm coming to Gaara? And something about a corpse not being in its coffin?
Wait . . . .
Kankuro stopped in his tracks. Uncle Yashamaru was dead. After his death, they had moved. His father said that they had moved because of . . . . Kankuro fell down, landed on his rear, and stared up at the raging sky above. No way. There was no way. Uncle Yashamaru would never . . . . The guy was practically their baby-sitter, their body guard, their friend. He wouldn't . . . . But, wouldn't that explain the blood in Gaara's room and Yashamaru's sudden death in the first place? No! It had to be a coincidence! It had to be! A lot of horrible things happened in Suna. It had to be a coincidence. Right?
Tears mixed with rain on the ground as the reality of the situation gave him the biggest blow he had ever taken. His father really was a mafia head. His little brother was dealing with more than just their uncle's death. His uncle was dead, but might not really be dead, and might also be his brother's rapist. The family was coming apart. But was it ever stable? Why was this happening? What did he do? What did Temari do? What did Gaara do? What did they do to deserve this? Kankuro lay down on the sidewalk, the raindrops pounding on Kankuro's face, inflicting pain. He closed his eyes, hoping that this was all a bad dream and that they would be back home, Gaara wouldn't have been shot, Temari would be planning another party, and his father would come home with some co-worker from the bank for dinner and make them all act polite and civilized. Like a normal family.
-
Temari, Neji, Naruto, and Lee had fallen asleep by the time Gaara's surgery was over. The nurse shook Temari awake and smiled warmly at her.
"Your brother's surgery went well and it's all over now. You can go visit him in his room if you'd like. But just one visitor at a time, please," said the nurse.
Temari nodded, rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and walked toward Gaara's room. Her movements woke Lee and Neji, but a clap of thunder woke Naruto up from his dreams.
Temari smiled at her little brother. Bandages covered his head and he seemed a little groggy, but other than that, he seemed perfectly okay. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She tackle-hugged her little brother and said, very loudly, "I love you, little brother!"
Ten minutes after she said that, Temari and Gaara's father appeared, apologizing for being late and asking how it went. He shook hands with Lee, Neji, and Naruto (who also tackle-hugged Gaara). Then Naruto started rambling about the times when his dad needed bullets removed and when he reached the infections-part of his story, Temari hit him in the head and told him to shut up. Gaara smirked. Neji shook his head. Lee grinned, and Naruto whined that he was just saying what had happened. Temari's father sighed and said that Gaara might be tired and made them all leave.
"We'll come back tomorrow and check up on him," he assured Temari. "By the way, where's Kankuro?"
"He probably completely forgot and is at home wondering where we are or something else completely stupid," Temari said as they walked home.
But Kankuro wasn't there. Temari shrugged and suggested that he might still be looking for him. Her father made some calls to see if Kankuro had been at the bank. They said yes, but that had been hours ago. He called some other places and asked if they had seen Kankuro. They all said the same thing or that they had never seen a boy like that. He sighed and called the police, saying that he couldn't find his son and that it wasn't like him to just disappear. Temari frowned. This didn't sound good. Her father and she ate their dinner alone and Temari went to bed worried. She had nightmares of Kankuro being kidnapped, then tortured, then murdered, and other horrible things that could've happened. She woke up repeatedly during the night.
-
Genma and Hayate drove down the street, complaining about some of the things that had happened in the police office today. They still wore their officer badges. They drove on Sakura Highway.
"Can you believe Itachi has the nerve to do any of that? Even Kakashi was mad that time!" Genma said, the toothpick sticking out from between his teeth.
"Yeah, I know. Hey, what's that up ahead?" Hayate asked between coughs.
"Looks like the car crash that happened yesterday."
"No, I mean on the sidewalk."
Genma looked on the sidewalk and his eyes widened.
"Ah man. Is that the missing kid that we'd been looking for all day?"
"Looks like it. Same hair and clothes."
"How long has he been out here?"
"Don't know."
Genma pulled over and they stepped out of the car. Hayate knelt down and checked his pulse and temperature.
"By the looks of it, he's been out here since the rain yesterday. We should probably take him to the hospital in case he has hypothermia."
"Good idea. I'll call Anko and say that we found him."
"'Kay. Mind if I take the car?"
"All right. Just come back for me."
"Don't I always?"
-
The phone rang. Temari answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Temari-chan, this is Anko-sempai from the police force. We found your brother. Turns out he was out cold on the street. Hayate-sempai took him to the hospital to make sure he's medically fine. The details are a little fuzzy, but I think he fell asleep in the rain yesterday."
"Argh! That sounds just like him! Just wait until he gets home! I'm gonna - !"
"Ha! I'd hate to be him. But, not that I don't like talking to you, I'd prefer it if you'd stop needing to call the police, okay?"
"It's not my fault my brothers can't keep themselves out of harm's way. Goodbye, Anko-sempai."
"See ya."
-
Red Roses2: That's all I've got for now. Next chapter will have romance, I promise. Whether it will be Kankuro's, Temari's, or Gaara's, I don't know, but I have some juicy stuff in store for the NaruGaa.