Disclaimer: I still don´t own Naruto or the characters.
KANKUROS POV- A FREE PERIOD
Sabakuno Kankuro lounged on the chair in front of his sisters desk and watched her measuring dots on the wall with a water-scale. Temari could be quite the perfectionist. She adjusted the left dot for the tenth time. "Do you think this is even?", she asked.
"It was even fifteen minutes ago, it is even now"
"Don´t be ridiculous. I changed it since then"
"By millimeters, Mari"
"Is it even, or not? I can´t see from here"
Kankuro sighed and took a few steps back. Temari was holding up her big fan in front of the wall. "It´s even", he said and sat back down. "Are you sure?" "Yes. Of course", he rolled his eyes, while she began to hammer nails into the marked spots. "So how was lunch?", she asked. Kankuro rubbed his temples "Horrible. Simply horrible".
"I take it, Neji doesn´t let you room with him then?"
"No, he doesn´t. And also he is an arse. And he totally has a stick up his arse too. I don´t know which is worse. He has a holier-than-thou-attitude that would put a saint to shame"
Temari chuckled and hoisted her fan up on the nails. "If I were you, I couldn´t get a minutes sleep, lying under that. Are you sure it´s gonna hold?", he eyed the construction suspiciously. Temari stepped down from her bed and restored the tools Kankuro had `borrowed` from the janitor back in their box. "Will do", she said "Did you finish unpacking?".
"Not like any of us has a lot of stuff left, right? Anyway. What did you ask me here for?"
"Right", Temari started rummaging through her trunk for her sheets and started making her bed. "Gaara wanted me to got to Tsunade about the chunin-exams"
"Why? Baki had us sign up already"
"Yeah, but Gaara threatened to blow it, if we can´t compete for Suna, so I went and asked"
"And?"
"And, I only reached Shizune. She said, she will tell Tsunade, but if you ask me, they only accepted us, to use us for competitions and stuff. I expect them to turn it down", she sighed. Kankuro blinked "That was so important? Doesn´t sound like an issue to me". Temari gave him an incredulous look. "You trained for this for months! You have to become a chunin, if you want to become a master of the puppeteer-guild. Ar you seriously telling me, you don´t care all of a sudden?".
Kankuro shrugged. "So what? They don´t let us compete for Suna, we move back and compete anyway. No biggie, Temari. Besides you can become a master by other means, if you really want to. Sasori did it"
"Yeah, but Sasori happened to be the puppet-master of the century", she reminded him. "What is it to me? The century isn´t over yet. I still have plenty of time", he winked at her, and saw an involuntary smile twitch her lips.
"Not the point", she continued then "I don´t want us to move. Not even for the chunin-competition. I want, you, Gaara and me in Konoha-Acadamy. I want a fresh start... and a bit mundane normality. No psychiatry, no trials, no school conferences", she glanced at him.
"So that is why you wanted to see me. No worries so far, Mari. But then again I have hardly seen any of the teachers- Ouch!", she had boxed his arm. "No seducing teachers, Kankuro! I don´t care, what your reasons are. Just get a boyfriend your own age, for a change... Or a girlfriend. Whatever", she shook her head "I don´t want to move us, but I don´t want you to miss the competition either", she sat down on her bed and sighed.
"What am I supposed to do? If we move back Gaara will never have a real chance to get better and make friends and if we stay, you can´t enter the competition... Either way I am going to disappoint one of you", it was such a rare sight, that Temari asked for advise, that Kankuro was startled for a moment.
"Well, don´t worry about it. Maybe it won´t come to it"
"But what if it does? What if it does come to it?", she looked at him pleadingly. She really does need my help with this, Kankuro realized. Sometimes it was hard to remember, that Temari could also struggle with a decision. She was usually so self-confident and organized, that it was easy to forget, she was still seventeen, just like him.
Kankuro swallowed and thought about the issue at hand. He offered her a reassuring smile. "Look. You asked me, if I was okay with moving. I agreed. This isn´t just about Gaara, this is also a fresh start for us. If it comes down to moving back, or staying, we stay. I can enter the competition next year. Either Gaara or Tsunade have changed their minds until then, or I can move back alone, join another team in Suna. That might not be perfect, but lets be honest", he patted her arm "if `perfect` happened to us, you would probably die of shock".
"Idiot", she slapped his hand "Would you really do that?", he could read in her eyes, that she meant it. If he said yes now, he gave her his word. No going back.
Kankuro hesitated and bit his lip. "Yes,,. If that is necessary I will. Mind you it will break my new hot teachers heart, but- Dammit, Mari! Stop hitting me already". For a moment the twins sat in companionable silence. Kankuros mind wandered of all the way back to Suna.
Temari had been so thrilled, when she had found a boarding-school of their level, that was willing to accept them. And it had been easy to get infected by it. A fresh start. For all of us. A fresh start was always an entrancing idea. Alone the thought to live in a town, where nobody hated them, was comforting.
To be honest Kankuro, like his twin, had gotten used to the snide comments, the wanna-be-bullies and occasional street-gang, bugging them, but he knew, somewhere deep down, that there was another way. That it could be easier.
It didn´t matter, that they could all fight back, and protect themselves now, because no matter how many people they defeated, and how easy that became as the years passed, they were still attacked. Still constantly on the look-out. Over a decade and Kankuro still had enough fingers to count the people, who had considered changing their minds about them. That number mostly consisted of Chiyo, Temaris and some of his ex´ and on a good day Baki.
If you cut that down further, we have one person, who is bound to spend time with us, because he is our teacher, one old lady, who was friends with our mother and feels compelled to help us out and a bunch of people who wanted sex. It doesn´t really matter, what the price is. Moving was a good idea anyway. "You made the right call, Temari. Moving us was a good idea", he said, before he left her and Tentens room.
Kankuro decided, that now was the best time to unpack and maybe polish his marionettes a little. Before Lee, gets out of class . He sighed as he walked down the central staircase to find the janitors closet he had nicked the tools from. No harm done , he mused, as he picked the lock and put the box back on the shelf. Maybe they have some paint to get rid of that green?
He searched every corner of the shelves four times. After giving up the last hope, to repaint the walls completely before Lee could protest, Kankuro closed the closet again. "We saw that". Kankuro spun around. A teenager with wild brown hair, dark eyes, red markings in his face and very prominent almost fang-like teeth grinned at him. Beside him a small cream-colored dog with brown ears watched Kankuro curiously.
Kankuro put his hands in the pockets of his black sweat-pants. "So?", he asked, crooking his head slightly. The teenager raised his brows "Nothing?", he asked. Clean-slate. Fresh start. Don´t pick fights. Temaris voice seemed to resound in his head. Kankuro relaxed his strained neck muscles and shoulders and the tension diffused.
"So what are you doing out of class, spying on people?", he asked. The guy grinned "I have a free period", he said and bowed down to pet his dog. "Do you have a free period or did you take one?", Kankuro inquired. The boy had an odd barking laugh. He was wearing a fur-lined jacket and navy-blue capri-shorts. Some sort of chain dangling by his side suggested, that he kept his wallet in his pocket.
"You noticed, hm? I am Kiba and this is Akamaru", he pointed at the dog, which gave a single bark, like a confirmation. "Damn it Akamaru! How often do I have to tell you, that you are the only dog in this school? If you want to greet people, wait til´ we are out of earshot from the class we are skipping", he scolded the dog and scooped him up, simply putting it on his head.
"Kiba?", asked a voice from a staircase. Kibas eyes went wide, as the speaker was obviously coming closer. "Run", he said and made his way down another staircase between two classrooms. Two floors further down, Kankuro realized, that he wouldn´t even have needed to hide. Force of habit, he mussed.
"I am Kankuro, by the way", he introduced himself. Kiba nodded "You are one of the transfers. Naruto kind of pointed you out over lunch", Kankuro immediately picked up on the odd choice of words.
"Kind of pointed me out?", he asked. Kiba flashed a guilty smile "He is a good guy, Naruto. Really. But his exact words might have been ´That goth-kid with the weirdo-hoodie´. Don´t hold it against him, he had just gotten rejected by Sakura for like the millionth time".
"Aha", Kankuro nodded, but mentally added Narutos name to the list of people, he would punch in the face without pre-text, should they make a comment like that, where he could hear it. He saw, how Kibas eyes narrowed for a second. Obviously he had just spotted Kankuros purple lips, but chose not to comment. You better, Mr. Red-stripes, Kankuro thought.
"So, you are staying with Neji or Lee?", Kiba asked. "Lee", Kankuros dismay must have shown on his face, because Kiba gave his shoulder, a very rough but probably friendly clap. Kankuro made a mental note not to pick a fight with Kiba. Only if possible of course. The guy seemed to be strong and have fingernails like claws. "I am rooming with Shino. I get it", he said.
"Who is Shino?", Kankuro asked, keeping up with Kiba, who had started walking to some unknown destination. "My teammate and friend. He is like the opposite of Lee. Pretty calm and quiet, but he is also a bug-enthusiast. His side of the room is practically stacked with insects. Dead or alive", he made a face "but then again Akamarus hair pretty much gets everywhere so I shouldn´t complain". The dog on his head barked again.
"I shall never forget the month he decided to study the breeding of cockroaches though", Kiba shuddered "And neither will Tsunade or the rest of the school for that matter. It did get a bit out of hand... Especially in the cafeteria". Kankuro swallowed hard. He was gaining the impression, that everyone in this school was crazy.
Kiba led them down another staircase, that ended in a small corridor. "This", he whispered "is the art-department. Quiet, now", his dog still on his head he tip-toed past a few classrooms to an unmarked door, he pulled a key from one of his pockets and opened the door inch by inch. It was ever so subtly creaking and Kankuro knew, it would have made a lot of noise, if Kiba had just pushed it open.
All the time they could hear the teachers voices from nearby classrooms and faint music, from the closed of corridor. Kankuro noticed, that the separation between the music and art classes was some sort of art in progress, as it was a wall covered from ceiling to floor in post-its. On a coffee-table next to it were markers and post-its so the students might add to the wall.
Finally the door was ajar, and Kiba motioned for him to follow him inside. "Don´t pull the door shut. It takes too long, to open", he turned on the light, and Kankuro finally realized, where they were. It was a storage room lined by shelves full of, glue, paper, paint and brushes.
Kiba expertly made his way over to a line of different buckets and grabbed one labeled "White". He grabbed two broad brushes and some tape and motioned for Kankuro to leave again. Kankuro, who had just spotted a glue-gun and a rack of fabrics, that made his finger itch to craft a new coat for his marionette left reluctantly.
When they were one floor up, he turned to Kiba. "How did you know?", he asked immediately. Kiba chuckled "I have been to Lees room. Mostly during that cockroach-month, but anyway", he shrugged. "You don´t strike me the guy for so much green".
"Thank you, I guess, but how did you get a key to the storage room?"
"Kurenai, my tutor, gave it to Hinata. We have an art-project due tomorrow"
"Hinata as in Nejis cousin?"
"Yeah, she´s my other teammate. You know her?"
"No. Just met Neji", Kankuro made a face. "Trust me", Kibas tone had cooled considerably and sounded very brisk now "you are better of with Lee. Neji is... Well he is Neji". "I would have gone with stuck-up git", Kankuro supplied.
"Right", Kiba grinned "So here´s the deal: I help you paint, so I can hide out while I should be in a double-period of mathematics. I swear Kurenai is getting crafty about hunting me down"
"Deal", Kankuro immediately agreed. We might actually finish before Lee returns.
And so they did. One double-period of not-mathematics later, Kiba and Kankuro sat on the desk in Kibas room one floor lower, while the now mostly white room Nr. 9 was drying, and were smoking by the open window.
Kankuro had never made an acquaintance that fast. In Suna nobody ever spoke with us. Nobody just helped us like that or was so nice, he mused. He was very well aware, that Kiba, like him was in a habit of avoiding mathematics where he could and Kankuro was one hundred percent sure, that he could have found another place to skip class any day.
"So what´s with the purple?", Kiba asked, taking a drag from, what Kankuro was pretty sure was a joint. Akamaru sat on the windowsill, his nose as far out as Kiba allowed him to go. Like his owner he had a sensitive nose and paint-fumes did nothing for their condition even if smoking was just fine.
"It´s the purple of the puppeteer-guild of Suna. You have probably heard of it", Kankuro explained. Kiba nodded "Everyone knows of the puppet-masters of the wind country. It´s like doctors or fire-breathers from Konoha. I never knew you guys tattooed your lips though"
"We don´t. Just me. It used to be tradition to paint ones face, including the lips, but most guys just wear a scarf or a bracelet or something like that today"
"I heard it is pretty tough to join the guild? That true?"
"Yes and no. If you really want it, joining is alright, but you have to train a lot, and climbing up the ranks, to actually master the art is tough", Kankuro answered. Kiba nodded "I get what you mean. See that?", he pointed at the red markings on his face.
"My families sign. My clan actually specializes in dogs. You´ll never find a better companion, than one from Inuzukas", he stroked Akamarus fur "but on the other hand it´s hard to be noticed. For everyone outside the clan Akamaru and I make a good team, and Akamaru is very smart and very well trained. If you compare it to the kind of level, my older relatives have archived though", he shook his head "then we have just started out".
There was a tentative knock at the door. "Come in!", Kiba called and the door swung open, revealing a girl with bangs and relatively short blueish black hair. She wore a beige jacket and blue jeans and held a few books and a folder closely pressed to her chest. Her entire stance, from her touching knees, over her blush and the finger pressed to her trembling lips screamed insecurity. That is one for the vultures, as we say in Suna, Kankuro thought.
"Hinata!", Kiba exclaimed. "Come in, come in. This is Kankuro, he is new, does not wear lipstick and was still already talked-down to by your sweet cousin. What do you say?".
Hinatas eyes, which resembled her cousins in their milky lilac color, but were soft and warm, widened and the girl blushed like a tomato. I have never seen someone blush that intensely. Lets see if she faints...
But Kiba had different plans. He laughed and motioned for Hinata to come over and sit on the chair in front of the desk. "Just kidding, Hina. Just kidding", he reassured her. Hinata nodded, but she didn´t manage to look Kankuro in the eye. Pathetic.
"So what brings you to my neck of the woods?", Kiba asked her. "E-e-e-hm", Hinata stuttered. And of course she stutters as well, Kankuro shook his head and all but suppressed a sneer. He sensed Kiba wouldn´t approve of that. "I-i b-brought your h-homework", she handed Kiba a very neatly written sheet of notes with an assignment at the end.
The Inuzuka sighed "Hinata. What is the point of me skipping class, if you won´t let me miss anything?", he complained, but took the notes from her anyway. "I-i am s-sorry Kiba". I can´t believe it. She actually apologized for that? Kankuro gave Kiba a questioning look. The other teenager just shrugged.
"Nah, whatever. If I fail, you and Shino fail, right?", Hinata looked anywhere but towards Kiba now. Kankuro could tell she was panicking more and more by the minute. Akamaru who had been curled up on the desk, nose towards the window, trodded over to her and licked her hand. "Hello Akamaru", Hinata murmured and began to pet the small dog with trembling fingers. Kankuro caught Kiba winking at Akamaru, and could have sworn the dog returned the gesture.
"Well", Kankuro put his cigarette out in the ash-tray. "You got an art-project to finish and I have a noble savage to pacify or punch. I haven´t decided yet". Kiba barked his weird laughter again. "Alright. See you around, but if I was you I would avoid punching Lee. Rock Lee is like crazy fast".
Kankuro raised his eyebrows. Who would have though? And that coming from a guy as strong as Kiba. But then again Gaara is pretty quick too, even though he looks all skinny. And he is by far the most dangerous fighter. He or Shukaku anyway.
He closed the door to Shinos and Kibas room, Nr. 8, behind him and looked left and right. At the east-end of the hallway he spotted Gaara opening the door to his room. Kankuro froze, as he met his brothers gaze and then forced a smile and raised a hand in greeting. Gaara simply went into his room.
Just as well, the puppeteer shrugged. Unlike Temari he wasn´t... whatever it was, that kept Temari throwing herself in front of their brothers inevitable way to permanent imprisonment.
Now that school was over for many students, they had mostly returned to their respective dormitories to either relax a little, do homework or drop their bags of. Anyway it didn´t seem to be the hour of students visiting friends and strolling the corridors yet. Kankuro wasn´t surprised. In Suna-Academy it had been the same.
Ino, Ino, Ino. Sakura. Where are you? He walked down the corridor in search of the girls rooms. A bit further down he spotted a whiteboard framed with silken cosmeas. The right side read "Sakura Haruno, 7" in delicate pink letters and the left side- Bingo! "Ino Yamanaka, 10", in purple. Tenten had been right about the girls virtually having "two rainbows and a unicorn-farm" in colors. The assortment of markers the two girls kept at their door needed an own box, that they had attached to the board.
Kankuro pretended to pick one for writing, while some brunette passed by and then nicked the deep rich purple, that came closest to the purple of the puppet-masters.
`Rock Lee` had been written in bold green letters, surrounded by tiny yellow stars on their board. Kankuro was pretty sure, that he hadn´t written it himself. His writing on Tentens board had been childish and crooked, not flashy. Maybe Tenten wrote it for him, Kankuro mused. Neji Hyuuga was definitely not the kind of person to draw tiny yellow stars on anybodys board.
Kankuro considered to return the marker to those girls, but decided to just keep it, adding it to the standard four colors on their door.
He heard the whining before he opened the door and saw Rock Lee with watering eyes staring at the white in the room in shock. "You scoundrel!", Lee jumped to his feet and extended a finger at Kankuro. "How dare you?", he questioned "The beautiful youthfulness of spring and now the cold white of old age and winter!".
His new roommate ranted on and Kankuro noticed that no matter, what Lee said it always sounded like "Waffle, waffle, whole load more of waffle", to him. After a minute he felt like he might deserve, he had had enough. "Shut it!", he bellowed.
Lee, taken aback by his tone, actually did. "Listen up and listen good you wanna-be-power-ranger!", Kankuro snapped. "I hate green. It is unnatural and plain irritating. I left you that strip over your bed and if you have a problem with that, try thinking, that the white just brings it out better. Old age emphasizing the meaning of youth or whatever. Frankly I don´t giva a fuck".
Lee was blinking rapidly and looked from the white wall to the broad strip of green running from his bed up to the ceiling. "I suppose it does make the color of my yoga-mat more visible", he noted. Sadly that is true, Kankuro thought.
"Now if you want to make it to tomorrow, there are some rules", he announced "first of all: No working out, while I am sleeping", Lees face fell. "Second rule: No music, that either of us finds unbearable. Third rule: Never ever try to gift me one of those things again", Kankuro pointed at the green monstrosity that Lee had left on his desk for him.
"But it is the height of style! The choicest of garments. It is flexible and accentuates the-"
"I said never!"
"Fine!", the green-clad teenager snapped. "If you can make rules, then so can I", he pointed to Kankuros desk-chair, where he had left Karasu. "I don´t", he drew quotation marks into the air "give a fuck", he winked at Kankuro "what you do with that thing by day. But at night it goes in your closet. It´s creepy!"
"Karasu is a a piece of art! She was crafted by Sasori himself!"
"I consider my work-out body-art then. You bann mine, I bann yours"
Kankuro grinded his teeth. I can´t expect to live peacefully with him, if I push every argument. "Fine", he agreed and Lee flashed a toothy grin.
Kankuro sighed and let himself fall on his bed face-first in defeat. His nose hurt from the impact, even though the black sheets he had brought from Suna were soft enough. Do not start punching those teeth out, do not start a fight and do not strangle him in his sleep with one of his stupid body-suits. He repeated the mantra for a while, until he felt, like he could bear seeing Lee again, who was doing push-ups over his French-textbook.
"You sure are a weird, falling over like that", Lee said. Weird? He calls me weird?! Kankuro shook his head. "Do you take French as well?", Lee asked, easily turning over a page, while continuing push-ups with one arm.
"Spanish", Kankuro answered. "Bummer. I will teach you one of the most important words in French then", Lee said "Jeunesse, jeunesse, jeunesse", he chanted. "I have to go", Kankuro shouldered Karasu and left. It was all he could do to stick to his mantra.
"Jeunesse" (as far as I distantly remember my French ;) ) means "youth".
I know this story has a slow start... Bear with me? Please? :D
