Summary: Targets for practice, targets of affection, targets of revenge, targets for disposal.

JOSTLING WINDS

Targets

Suna Academy

Matsuri released a long breath as she spun her jouhyou. Hit the target. Please, please, please.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist and turned to her sensei with a smile. "I did it! That's three in a row!"

"Indeed." Gaara tried to remember how Baki would reward a successful lesson. "We'll end our lesson early then."

Gaara had expected his student to be happy, but instead she stood with a crestfallen face and said, "Oh."

"You don't want to leave?" asked Gaara with a frown. "Letting you go early should be a reward for work well done."

The girl's face brightened a bit before she inquired, "Gaara-sensei, could I select my own reward?"

Gaara looked a bit skeptical, but Matsuri was neither impetuous like his brother nor a control freak like his sister, so he nodded.

Matsuri sat on the ground and asked, "Would you tell me about yourself?"

Gaara cautiously took a seat by her and echoed, "About myself?"

"What were you like as a student? Who was on your genin team? Who was your sensei?" Matsuri stopped abruptly as she realized she was probably being too demanding.

Gaara was actually relieved by the detailed questions, so he began with the most recent one. "My sensei was Mitsuki no Baki, the Wind Sword."

"How did you survive under such a harsh man?" asked Matsuri in wonder. "I'm sorry, I don't mean any disrespect to him, but he is very--intimidating."

Gaara blinked at her comment. "Baki has high expectations." Matsuri blinked back at him, so the boy assumed she was expecting more information. "He was not content that we performed our jutsus, but that we also understood what we were doing."

"Did he give horrible punishments when you messed up?" Matsuri then immediately laughed. "Not that I ever think you could fail, Gaara-sensei."

"All students can fail by simply ignoring instructions," conceded Gaara. He thought for a moment. "Baki's punishments always had a point to them, except..."

"Except?" prodded Matsuri. Surely there was something horrendous about the fearsome Wind Sword.

"Paperwork," Gaara finally revealed. "Baki is too generous in sharing paperwork, like when he was chief administrator of the Ruling Council." Gaara thoughtfully added, "It did inspire us to learn to learn a simple fire jutsu. Luckily we haven't burned down his house yet."

"You live with him?" prompted Matsuri.

"We live at his cliff house, but he stays at the Councilor's quarters," replied Gaara. "Baki is still our mentor, although now as chunin we're colleagues."

"We? You live with your genin team?"

"Yes," said Gaara. "We have lived together since the team was formed."

"Well, what are they like?" Matsuri tilted her head and her large eyes reminded Gaara of his bear, so he lost a bit of his normal inhibitions.

"My brother is--" Gaara tried to search for a word that fit, "cool, although he can act quite foolishly sometimes. For all that, he was Baki's favorite student. I would have thought his favorite would be my sister because she's also a Wind Master and a control freak. But she insists Baki would have preferred to have taught only boys; he doesn't do very well with girls."

"You have a brother? And a sister, too?" asked Matsuri in wonder.

"Kankuro and Temari," offered Gaara. "The Puppet Master and the Tessen here at the Academy."

"Oh!" Then Matsuri's face turned red in embarrassment. "I feel so stupid. Forgive me, Gaara-sensei, I don't know much more about Sunagakure than when I first arrived." She frowned as she put together the pieces. "You were the Kazekage's children, neh?"

"The Kazekage fathered us, yes." Gaara waited for the connection to the Shukaku to come, but Matsuri surprised him.

"And the Wind Sword, he's Marshal Baki who oversees the Eastern sector." The girl smiled as she noted, "That's where I used to live."

"That is his jurisdiction; we tended to do missions there to facilitate his duties." Gaara hesitated a moment before he added, "Our team was sent to eliminate the raiders who destroyed your village."

Matsuri took a deep breath, then bowed formally to Gaara. "Thank you, Gaara-sensei. I have even more reason to feel safe around you."

Gaara was taken aback at her comment. It was quite unusual for anyone to feel comfortable with him, let alone safe. As he dealt with this strange feeling stirring within him, Matsuri continued.

"So your brother and sister were your genin team under Marshal Baki," stated Matsuri as she put it all together. "It must be wonderful to train with siblings. I envy you, Gaara-sensei."

Gaara felt his lips curl into a smile and his heart sped up a bit. It was an odd sensation to feel--proud? Appreciated? Liked? He would have to discuss this with Kankuro, but at the time he merely nodded. Matsuri's innocence was refreshing and he found her naiveté to be an asset rather than a burden.

Suddenly, he felt as if he were being watched, so he stood abruptly and scanned the area, but could sense nothing.

"Gaara-sensei? You're leaving?" asked Matsuri as she also stood.

Gaara turned to her slowly to say, "This lesson is now over. See you tomorrow."

As he watched her walk away, Gaara thought about her unique attitude. Matsuri trusted and valued him--at least until she found out about Shukaku. He shook off the thought and tried to remember whose turn it was to provide dinner. He'd have to pick up something at the market just in case it was his.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cliff House

Temari and Kankuro looked at the package Gaara had set on the kitchen counter and then at each other before exchanging a grimace. Although they split kitchen duty three-and-three between the two of them, it still meant that their little brother was responsible for dinner once a week.

"Ah, crap, I forgot it was his night to fix dinner," mumbled Kankuro with a shudder. "Think, Temari. What do we do to avoid salted lizard tongue?"

She snapped her fingers and said, "I'll go out back and send a wind whisper to Baki about picking up dumplings for us."

"Tell him to get some with ogure," directed Kankuro as she slipped into the garden.

Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's request, but soon made contact with Baki. After threatening to send him a wind whisper about every bite of salted lizard tongue she would be eating if the jonin didn't rescue them from their brother's culinary skills, the man consented.

"And now I'm a dumpling delivery service," muttered Baki to himself as he paid for the dumplings and walked to the cliff house. "I really need to learn to just say no."

But responding to the summons served Baki's purpose since he'd received word from the Crystal Caves. He wasn't surprised when Kankuro opened the door and grabbed the bag of dumplings from his hands.

The puppeteer called to his siblings in the kitchen, "Take as much of the lizard tongue as you want, bro, Baki brought some dumplings!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," admonished both Baki and Temari, who'd come running to grab the bag away from her brother.

"Hey," muttered Kankuro around a mouthful of dumpling as he ran after his sister.

Gaara just quietly emptied all of the salted lizard tongues onto his plate while the others distributed the dumplings. Temari had said was that he was responsible for one dinner, not that he had to cook it for them.

At the end of the meal, Baki announced as he passed out scrolls, "I got a message from the Crystal Caves and letters for all of you from Kagami."

Temari opened her scroll and nodded, "Great, she got the package I sent."

"She mentions some ancient scroll pertaining to sand used in glassmaking that Lord Houshu is saving for me," added Gaara as he read his.

Everyone turned expectantly to Kankuro who was frowning, then smiling, then laughing, then muttering, "Bring it on," as he read Kagami's latest challenge. He didn't realize he was speaking aloud when he said, "Of course I can do that with chakra strings!"

The puppeteer finally realized everyone's attention was on him, but he just cleared his throat, put the scroll in his pocket and asked Baki, "Any news about Uncle Doom?"

"No word on Karumaru, but Lord Houshu's report does mean you'll be preparing for a mission to deal with some pirates."

"Pirates, huh." Kankuro turned to his brother to say, "Bummer for you, bro. You could get wet sand again."

Gaara actually stopped to frown at the thought, leaving a sliver of lizard tongue dangling from his lips for a moment.

"Is this about those raids on the Southern coast?" asked Temari. "The Southern Marshal and the Commodore are butting heads over jurisdiction, right?"

"The turf war between them continues," confirmed Baki, "and the Council won't send a team on their own authority to deal with 'random' raids."

"Father didn't tolerate raiders even if the villages weren't very important," said Temari.

Everyone was surprised when Gaara spoke. "Is Suna being targeted because we don't have a Kazekage?"

"Maybe, but you can be sure the Kazekage would've knocked some heads together and sent a team to eliminate the raiders," asserted Kankuro, then frowned when he realized he was praising his father.

"Houshu found sufficient witnesses to confirm it's the same ship on these raids, so these are not random. If the raids creep eastward as he suspects, it will fall in my jurisdiction as Marshal," explained Baki. "I made sure the Eastern sector included inland and coast. I'll have authority to send a team on my own initiative, so Gaara, Kankuro, be ready to leave at any time to lead a team."

"Hey, why don't I get to see some action?" demanded Temari with her eyes flashing in anger. "I'm not some little girl--"

"I need you at the Academy," injected Baki calmly. "We're cycling through the next set of instructors soon and they need to be evaluated."

"Oh." Temari sat back, embarrassed. "You're right, I am the best person for that job."

"So we get to lead a bunch of chunin against raiders?" asked Kankuro.

"You'll have both jonin and chunin, but Gaara will be the lead on the mission with you acting as his lieutenant and scout," explained Baki and turned to Gaara. "If you're to make jonin soon, people must see that you can lead a team that contains more than just your siblings. Can you handle it?"

"I won't hesitate to kill the raiders," muttered Gaara, but then added, "but I will make protecting the team a priority."

"Well, come on, bro, let's go train. Baki can help Temari clean up," declared Kankuro. The boys were gone before their sister could protest.

"You know, I'm gonna enjoy a testosterone-free house," the kunoichi declared with her hands on her hips.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2 weeks later

Sunagakure

"Thanks for dinner again; I'm getting rather spoiled." Temari released Baki's arm once they got to the door of the cliff house. Her brothers had left earlier in the week for their mission to deal with the coastal raiders and the jonin had taken her to dinner each night before escorting her home.

Baki shrugged. "You've been working hard with your duties at the Academy and the extra training we've been doing on your wind jutsus after that."

"Yes, but then I get nothing but Me time."

"So what have you been doing on your testosterone-free evenings?"

"Can't you tell?" asked Temari as she waved her fingers under his gaze. "I've done a manicure," she stopped to wiggle her toes at him, "and a pedicure. The color is called purple passion."

"Contusion would be a better name for that color." Baki soon regretted his remark when Temari jabbed him sharply in the arm. He rubbed it and said, "Ow, that's gonna bruise."

"We can compare colors now," said Temari sweetly. "See, you need to quit making those sorts of comments if you want to get anywhere with a woman."

"But women get upset if a guy stays too quiet around them," argued Baki.

"The trick is to say something a girl wants to hear," instructed Temari. She tilted her face up at him and said, "Last night I did a facial."

"Ah, and here I thought the healthy glow was just from your workout with the wind jutsus."

"That's better, but can't you compliment a girl without it being ninja-related?"

Baki actually thought about it and said, "No."

"You're hopeless," said Temari in a resigned tone.

"Look, Temari, you don't need any artificial enhancement; you're fine just the way you are. But if you enjoy doing all that girly stuff, then by all means, indulge."

"At least you understand that much. And tonight, it's a leg wax."

Baki quirked his eyebrow. "Is that anything like ear wax?"

"No, you use a hot wax on your leg to remove the hair," explained Temari.

"That sounds--painful," he observed.

"Ah, but it's worth the nice, smooth skin," said Temari. She noticed that his glance flicked quickly to her legs before averting, but she bit back a smile as she teased, "You wouldn't want me to be as hairy as the weasel I summon, would you?"

"Why do I have this image of a plucked weasel in my mind now?" muttered Baki.

"Because you've been around Kankuro too long; that's what he'd say."

"Ah, yes, his insidious influence strikes again."

Temari sounded a bit wistful as she admitted, "You know, we've never been separated this long. I mean me and Kankuro. It feels--"

"Like you've lost an annoying shadow?" suggested Baki.

Temari chuckled, "Yes, that's it. And since the chunin exams, I've slept better knowing that Gaara is always on night watch. I guess I do miss my boys."

"Kankuro does have a way of livening things up," admitted Baki. "And I have to admit it's been interesting to watch Gaara discover his humanity."

"You're starting to actually like him now, aren't you? Gaara, I mean."

Baki nodded, "I've always appreciated the weapon Gaara could be, but now as I see him acting like a brother to you, I'm starting to like the kid underneath it all. Never expected that to happen."

"Life is full of unexpected surprises. It's nice to know that some of them can be good,' sighed Temari.

"They should be home in a couple days now that they've secured the Seacliffe Village," assured Baki. He reached out to squeeze her shoulder before walking away.

Temari entered the lonely house and sighed, but soon started her project. A few hours later, her legs were smooth and she was ready to fall asleep.

She donned a long t-shirt she had stolen from the things Baki had left forgotten in a chest at the back of the closet at the cliff house. The kunoichi brushed her hair out, but then stopped when she heard a sound coming from the garden. She went to check, but saw nothing. Suddenly, she heard a pebble being dislodged only to see a cat scurrying away.

"Kankuro! You need to quit feeding every stray cat, you idiot," muttered Temari as she recognized the freeloading tabby.

Satisfied, Temari went to bed and slept well until the wee hours of the morning when the nightmare began. She was again just a little girl trying to evade her uncle's attention, but the man followed her with an evil glint of bloodlust in his gaze, one eye reflecting back any light, much like a cat. She performed a jutsu hastily and waved her little hands like a fan to keep him away in her dream. The force was sufficient to halt Karumaru's progress, but still he came at her. She needed help, she needed--

"Baki!"

At the Councilor's Tower, the scream in his mind brought Baki quickly awake. The sense of urgency to get to Temari even overcame the headache the summons had wrought. He cast himself immediately to the wind.

Baki appeared at the back garden and registered the cool rocks under his bare feet, but found the house dark and silent. He quietly opened the screen that led into the house and walked toward Temari's room, a small wind sword already activating in his hand. The jonin barely had time to dampen his wind jutsu when he realized the shadow he had targeted was Temari.

"Hold, Temari, it's Baki."

"God, Baki, you scared me!" She quirked an eyebrow. "Why are you wandering around so...undressed?"

Her words made him realize he was only wearing flannel pajama pants and had not draped his face. The jonin crossed his arms and turned in profile to hide the scars even in the dim lighting. "I was sleeping when you screamed your wind whisper to me. It's given me an everlasting headache."

"Oh, I didn't realize it would reach you," she explained. "I was having a nightmare where I was a child again and Karumaru was after me. I performed the jutsus in my dreams to get rid of him, but I woke up after I called for you. I heard a noise from the garden, so I got up thinking it was just a stray cat to chase away when I saw your shadow."

Baki frowned, "You must have made the hand seals in your sleep."

"Yeah," laughed Temari rather ruefully. "Bad-ass Tessen has a nightmare, so the first thing she does is cry for her sensei."

"Well, I'm here, so let me check the house so I don't feel like some pervert showing up half dressed like this. We'll start with your room--and this time, turn on the lights."

"But I thought it was just a cat," groused Temari as she led the way and turned on the hall light. She was starting to see the humor in ruining another night for Baki with her wind whisper. It was helping relieve the lingering fear left by her nightmare.

Baki walked behind her and slowly realized she was wearing one of his old t-shirts. Of course, the fit on her was vastly different than his lanky frame, much curvier and--he scowled at his thoughts and decided not to mention the pilfered item.

"There was a cat in the garden earlier, so I was going to check there first in case that's what woke me up," explained Temari as she turned on the light in her room. The jonin immediately walked to her window and knelt. She frowned and asked, "Find something?"

"Sand."

Temari could feel her heart racing now as she knelt by his side. It shocked her to think that her room had been invaded, but she murmured, "Sloppy hand seal?"

Baki nodded. The transport jutsu required two good hands to execute.

"Stay back, Temari, and don't ever let me catch you doing this," said Baki. He made a precise incision with a wind scalpel on his index finger, then traced a triangle in blood around the sand. He quickly added a series of symbols before he knelt back to close his eyes as he made hand seals. The drawings were soon illuminated.

Temari watched in silence as Baki then placed his hand above the sand and gasped when she saw the lightning bolt strike the sand to melt it into a jagged rod. That required a level of control not often seen with wind masters. The jonin seemed to then concentrate all of his chakra flow into the fulgarite until it culminated in a flash of light.

CRACK!

A thundering clap accompanied the change in air pressure that threw them both against the far wall. Temari recovered first since her chakra had not been drained. She became alarmed when she found Baki still inert and looking pale. If he had used the forbidden jutsu she suspected, his very soul was in limbo right now.

"Baki, come back," she called into his ear as she slapped at his face sharply. He remained unresponsive, so this time she practically screamed his name and, in a drastic measure, bit his ear lobe.

"Gah!" Baki opened his eyes and she could see him mouthing, "The hell?"

"You weren't responding," accused Temari before shoving at his shoulder. "You scared the hell out of me."

"You are one vicious woman," Baki said as he rubbed his ear gingerly, then tried to stand. When she moved immediately to help him get his feet, he added, "But thanks for the wake up."

"What happened?" asked Temari as she helped him over so he could collapse on her bed.

"Followed with a Chakra clone. Wounded him, but he got away." His speech was faltering now.

Temari swallowed as she considered the implications, both of the intruder and what Baki was capable of doing. "Was it--"

"Karumaru," confirmed Baki before he closed his eyes.

Ten hours later, Baki was sleeping on his side when he heard Temari's voice again.

"Baki, wake up."

She smiled when she saw the man actually cup his ear to protect it before opening his eyes to look at her. "Temari, what time is it?"

"It's noon, thought it'd be a good time to check on you." Temari helped steady him as he stood up and pushed him toward the bathroom. "I'll bring some food in a minute, but I expect to see you back in bed, understand?"

The man merely grunted, but when Temari returned, she found him propped in a sitting position on the bed. The Wind Sword was stubborn, but smart enough to know he couldn't beat her in a fight right now.

"Here, drink this broth."

He sipped most of it down before he put it aside and muttered, "I hate this."

"Yeah, well at least it's not cafeteria food," Temari admonished.

Baki shook his head. He had a bad headache, he was fatigued, and he felt exposed without the drape covering his face. "I hate you seeing me like this."

He closed his eyes and turned his scarred side away from her only to hear her chuckle softly. "But your scars are comforting for me; I know it's really you."

His good eye popped open and looked skeptical. "You're weird, you know that?"

"I am Kankuro's sister," said Temari reasonably. "I was at the Academy this morning and drafted Hiroko to cover for me this afternoon. I've brought the paperwork on the teacher evaluations to do while I watch you get more rest, so don't even think about leaving."

"Too bad you didn't bring an aspirin," he muttered grumpily. Kankuro was right; Wind Master's were control freaks.

Temari smiled sweetly as she offered him the pills. "Your reward for being a good boy."

Baki realized he was pouting, so he exhaled and took the meds while Temari filled him in.

"I reported an intruder to Yura, but made sure to clean up the symbols in case he decided to come here," she put her hand up before he protested. "I knew you'd be out for most of the day, so you needed an alibi for the chakra drain. I didn't mention Karumaru. So what happened exactly?"

"My chakra caught up with him, but he was too far away." Baki rested his head deeper into the pillow as he continued. "I used a wind jutsu to manipulate the sand to grab his leg."

"Like Gaara's sand coffin?"

"I've learned a lot watching him," admitted Baki. "Stripped away the muscles of his leg in a bloody mess. Karumaru got away, but not without paying a price."

Temari shivered. "So he was here, Karumaru was actually here."

"Yes, you were his target, but I think he'll stay away from Sunagakure now," said Baki. "Listen, this house has seals that can be used for intruder alerts. I'll activate them--"

"No, tell me how to do it; it would just drain your chakra again."

He told her the series of hand seals and where the wards were to be found in the house, but kept feeling sleepier. With his last coherent thought, he realized Temari had not just provided a pain killer, but a sleeping pill. "Temari, ... you ... vicious ... conniving ..."

"I've been taught by the best," she confirmed with a smirk. As she watched him drift off, Temari stroked his head, noting that he kept the short burr she preferred now. She then placed a chaste kiss on his scarred cheek. "Thank you, Sensei."

She settled beside him on the bed with her forehead brushing against his shoulder to take a nap to catch up on her own lost sleep. She wrapped her hand around his arm, feeling secure in the strength it revealed. The man would be scandalized by her current behavior, yet had no second thoughts about potentially losing his soul to protect her from Karumaru.

Temari sighed as she considered what Baki was willing to sacrifice for her well being. It was more than her father would have ever done. For a moment she wondered what it would have been like if the Kazekage had betrothed her to this man. She trusted Baki and would have accepted her duty, but chided herself immediately. Her father would not have been so generous.

Still, she had not found the betrothal scroll that carried her signature. She had used her brothers' absence as an excuse for looking through the late Kazekage's documents stored in the house, but found nothing. With luck, it was long gone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Crystal Caves

After five days, the mission ended successfully with the raiders being destroyed after an interesting adventure that included the Leaf nins. Furthermore, Suna now had a coastal village that could flourish as a resort. Rather than arrive in the middle of the night in Sunagakure, Kankuro had suggested a brief detour.

The brothers arrived just in time to eat dinner with the Shugyoku clan at the Crystal Caves, which meant Kankuro was in full face paint much to the delight of the young girls of the clan.

Kagami had joined them directly from her latest glass blowing efforts, but Kankuro took care not neither to mention nor stare at the streak of soot that lined her jaw. They had made plans to meet later, so as soon as was polite, Kankuro excused himself to get cleaned up.

"Remember the hut we stayed in the first time we came?" asked Kankuro as he stepped out of the shower and rubbed his hair dry. "These guest quarters Lord Houshu fixed up for us are luxury accommodations in comparison."

"I suppose it's better than traveling at night," agreed Gaara. Even with his chronic insomnia, the Sand nin preferred to rest his body at night.

Kankuro checked his face in the mirror and made sure all the war paint was gone. "See, I told you this was a good idea."

"It does give me the opportunity to review the scrolls Lord Houshu had set aside for me," confirmed Gaara as he scanned the material before him.

"Hey, listen." Kankuro tugged on clean clothes. "I promised Kagami I'd meet her at the pool when she got away from the munchkins."

"You need a clean shirt for that?" asked Gaara as he noticed his brother's ablutions.

"Well, yeah." Kankuro ran a brush through his hair knowing it would just spring up again. "She's a friend who I don't see very often, so I'd like her to remember me at my best and not, you know, all stinky and sand logged."

Gaara nodded, but then asked the question that had been on his mind lately. "What does it feel like when someone likes you?"

Kankuro was stunned by the question. Surely Gaara realized that his siblings cared about him and that even Baki had developed a muted affection for him since the chunin exams.

Gaara ignored the Shukaku's negative rantings and added, "I mean someone not-family."

Kankuro exhaled and explained, "Well, it feels good, you know, like a warm feeling that makes you think you're special and not some chump."

"Yes, that's what it was like," murmured Gaara. At his brother's quizzical expression, he added, "As a reward for her hard work, Matsuri wanted to learn about my genin team rather than to end the lesson early. People normally want to get away from me, but not her. She envied that I got to work with my siblings."

"That makes sense; she's got nobody. I mean, technically speaking, we're orphans, too, but we have each other, right? Plus we've always had Baki looking out for us." Kankuro put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You gonna be all right here alone?"

"Yes, Lord Houshu said I could see him with questions once the rest are sleeping so we can discuss things without interruptions." Gaara blinked. "Do you think he might like me, too?"

"Dude, he's desperate for any male company! But, yeah, I think that both Lord Houshu and Kagami like you." He smiled at his brother and said, "See ya later."

Kankuro made his exit with a cheery whistle. He found Kagami waiting for him on a blanket by the pool in the glade of the Crystal Caves because she had set two glowing orbs on the branches of the tree for light.

She held her usual somber expression, until his tone changed to the classic wolf whistle. A dress? Not frilly, but a girly salmon pink that really complimented her dark hair and showed off her long legs very nicely.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagami asked when she registered his whistle, but her lips held the barest smile as she flicked the skirt of her sundress self-consciously.

"It's a compliment," said Kankuro easily, "But when you finally get to Sunagakure, you tell me if any guy whistles at you like that so that I can have Karasu cut his lips off."

Kagami averted her gaze. "So you like the dress? You don't think I look stupid?"

Kankuro sat beside her and assured, "You look girly but in a nice way. Besides, you're like Temari. A skirt wouldn't keep you from kicking my butt."

Kagami finally smiled. "Good, because Temari sent it to me. She wanted me to have what the girls in Sungakure were wearing."

An awkward silence fell between them where Kagami fidgeted and Kankuro kept trying to figure out how to get closer to her without appearing to. Finally, he put a hand on her shoulder and pointed up at the clouds in the night sky.

"Think it's gonna rain?" He mentally beat himself for the remark. Stupid, stupid.

"No, but the breeze is a bit cold for wearing no sleeves," replied Kagami.

"Oh, well, here," he offered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He cleared his throat and asked, "Better?"

"Yes, this is nice," she confirmed as she leaned against him. She took a deep breath and asked, "So, kissed any girls lately?"

Silence. Kankuro's heart quickened as he considered the numerous ways Kagami could damage him.

Kagami became alarmed at his continued silence and she felt her heart beat faltering. She had meant the question as a private joke between them since they had shared that sweet, but innocent kiss. She shoved his shoulder and accused, "You have, haven't you?"

"Hey, it's not like I turned into some kissing bandit," defended Kankuro. "I just wanted to see if kissing any girl made me feel the same."

Kagami stood up and brushed off her skirt. "Oh, so kissing me was so bad that you tested it with some--some--who was she?"

Kankuro just sat there dejected, blaming Baki for letting his bad luck with women rub off on his student. "Dunno her name, some leaf nin."

Kagami registered his defeated tone and kept herself from running away in embarrassment. "You kissed a stranger?"

Kankuro suddenly stood to say, "I shut up a loud-mouthed acquaintance. And I never said kissing you was bad. It felt good, pretty damn good."

She bit her lip and faced him. "Better than the leaf nin?"

"You were better than a skewer of dumplings," said Kankuro, then winced. "I mean, I like dumplings. A lot."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," said Kankuro as he put his hands on her shoulders and his gaze scanned her face. "And I was wondering if maybe we should test it again. The kiss, I mean."

Kagami kept still as he lifted her chin and tilted her head so that their lips met perfectly. She felt emboldened and put her arms around his neck. He continued to hold her when the kiss ended, his hands gently caressing her back. She pressed closely against him when to her surprise she felt the long, hard length in his pants.

"Kankuro, is this, er, normal?" she asked, her face blushing as she pulled back to look at his face.

"What?" He was so lost in the physical sensations he couldn't follow her question. Then he realized her gaze had fallen below his waist and he was blushing in turn. "Oh, that. Might as well pull it out and show you. I need a hole to dump it into and you'd know best."

Kagami stared at him in shock until she saw that Kankuro was pulling out a cylinder. She felt utterly brilliant when she observed, "That's a scroll."

"Yeah," agreed Kankuro with a self-conscious laugh as he realized what he'd said before. "I need to get rid of this, so I was hoping you'd show me a nice deep hole I could toss it into."

"Okay," said Kagami. Oddly enough, given the source, the request didn't seem so weird. "Follow me."

She picked up the blanket and led him through some caverns as each of them carried a glass orb filled with light. She would stop to perform jutsus to allow passage into sealed areas until they came to the edge of a ledge.

The faint odor of sulfur wafted up to him as Kagami explained, "Uncle says that this is the deepest pit. It was carved out by the sulfur springs in this part of the caves. Watch."

Kankuro peered over the edge as Kagami threw her globe into the pit. He saw the light disappear, but still could hear no impact. He nodded to her and said, "That'll do."

He handed the globe he carried to Kagami so that he could perform his task. Kankuro took the scroll and looked at it wistfully, still feeling in his heart that he was messing with his sister's destiny. Still, he released the scroll into the endless pit.

"Well, that's done," he said. "Hey, is it me, or is it warmer here?"

"The sulfur springs are hot," informed Kagami. "Here, I'll show you where it heats the rocks, but where it's vented so that there's no odor."

Kankuro followed her to a smoother outcropping where he saw her lay the blanket she carried on the surface where he joined her. "You're right. It's rather comfy here. Doesn't stink, either."

He noted that Kagami still held the glowing orb in her hand, their only source of light, and gently pried it away. She asked, "What are you doing?"

"Giving us our own special moon," he replied as he used a chakra string to hang it over them. He lay back to look at Kagami and saw that she had that half-smile on her face. "See, I can extend my chakra strings to suspend objects."

"You've proven your superiority there," admitted Kagami graciously. "But maybe our moon should be a bit bigger," she said as she performed a jutsu that enlarged the sphere.

"Yeah, that is better," said Kankuro as he stared at her, his eyes falling onto her lips again.

She met him for another kiss, but quickly retreated with a sad look on her face. "I don't want your pity. I know you see prettier girls than I am everyday."

Kankuro frowned. "Yeah, and those pretty girls see guys who are better looking than me everyday. So are you kissing me just because I'm the only guy available here?"

"What? No!" said Kagami as she sat up. "I mean, you are, but that's not why I'm here. You're my friend."

"Same goes for me," explained Kankuro. He threaded his fingers through his hair and tried to voice his thought. "Look, the whole dating thing is tougher than it sounds. I don't want to mess with it right now, so it's not like I want a girlfriend."

"I wasn't offering," said Kagami, but she didn't run away. "That doesn't mean I'm not--curious."

"I'm as curious as you are about--" He stopped as he tried to find a term that wouldn't sound crude.

"Physical intimacy?" she suggested. "But that doesn't mean I want to, you know, do it."

"Look, if I make a wrong move, I know you can send that mirror mutt of yours to bite my nuts off," replied Kankuro. That coaxed a quiet laugh from her, so he teased, "Ah, so you do find that thought appealing?"

"Actually, I don't think Souku could jump high enough to reach, ahem." Kagami was blushing, but managed to add, "So if you get a running start, the Sabaku line should survive."

"That's so reassuring," replied Kankuro with a grin before sobering. "I don't intend to betray your trust. But I feel safe with you, like I can explore this stuff without you laughing at me or being disappointed."

"But you do make me laugh," said Kagami.

"Yeah, but you're laughing with me, not at me." He rubbed her shoulder gently and added, "And I like how it feels to kiss you, to just hold you. I mean, doing the same thing with Karasu would just be creepy, you know?"

"You might be weird, but you're not creepy." She leaned over and kissed him gently on the mouth. She whispered, "So we're each other's safety zone until I get into the 'real' world?"

"Yeah, but we're each other's friend first. That's more important," he whispered back to her as she snuggled into the crook of his arm. "And when you do get into the world out there, we can decide what happens then."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kankuro finally got to his bed at the Crystal Caves a few hours later feeling very satisfied with life. His dreams were pleasant and he felt content--until he smelled the faint trace of sulfur in the morning. He opened his to eyes to see the dreaded scroll lying on the bed beside his pillow.

The Puppet Master sat up and opened it to confirm it was indeed the document that betrothed Baki to Temari. Kankuro shook his fist and admonished his deceased father. "Hell, old man, why'd you have to be some jutsu genius? Oh, right, you were the damn Kazekage. Aaargh!"

The indestructible scroll traveled back to Sunagakure in Karasu's maw.

End Chapter Four

Author Notes:

My apologies for again putting off the actual rescuing Matsuri arc. The snippets of life kept flying off the keyboard, but I kept being teased by the different male-female relationships showing up in this story. The idea that Gaara must learn to recognize positive feelings was intriguing and I think the one thing that makes Matsuri special was her open acceptance of her sensei. She is naive, but not stupid; it's just that she's learned to shut out negative talk.

I also had not addressed Temari's knowledge about the betrothal scroll. Moreover, I find it easy to write Temari and Baki together. She brings out a teasing quality in Baki that, while it isn't outright flirting, is the closest the stolid man gets to it.

Karumaru is an OC uncle of the siblings whom I have cast as a villain. Baki performed a bit of astral projection to get to him.

Kankuro and Kagami. One has to be careful with OCs so they don't wind up Mary Sueish and I hope I'm keeping Kagami 'real.' So often the cliche is that the teenage characters will do it at the drop of a hat when in fact, the sexual act can be quite intimidating even for boys. Besides, Kankuro's strongest role model in this regard is Baki. So he understands that being a man is defined by actions other than whether one is a virgin.

I can assure you that the next chapter will definitely be the rescue Matsuri arc because I've already started writing it. Thanks to all who read. Again, I especially appreciate the comments, but the story will go on regardless. The characters are much too fun in the writing.