v late writing this, bc I had a nice heavy block sitting on my shoulders, but better late than never? eventually decided not to just rewrite a whole fight, so this is a bit tangential, but hope you enjoy anyways! (for the record kank vs shino is Brilliant)

Day 5 - Favourite Fight

Wind ripped at his throat and sand burned at his eyes; in such chaos, it was almost impossible to rely on his senses, but that was fine, because he didn't really need them.

He had experience, he had cunning and he had trust.

Duck in exactly three seconds and a wave of sand would pass harmlessly over his head, leap into the air at a thirty degree angle and he would catch the kunai hurled at him, throw it at the enemy closing in on his brother and a gust of wind would keep its aim strong and true, call Kuroari from its hiding place beneath the dunes and tendrils of sand would guide the target inside its gaping maw, ignore the sword being aimed at his back and a shield would rise to protect him, spin and knock the assailant over with a hard kick and heavy iron would slam down for the finishing blow.

It wasn't often he got to battle like this these days, the world was at peace and he and his siblings all had important roles that kept them far from the field, it was only happenstance and a gutsy, but ultimately foolish, attack from a dissident group that landed them here now, tearing up dunes together, like old times.

Well, Gaara and Temari were tearing up dunes, he was mostly trying to keep them reigned in.

Still though, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Temari, behind you!" he yelled, already launching Karasu to deflect the kunai flying towards her.

"On it!" She let out a monumental grunt as she prepared her attack, spinning a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, fan picking up the air around her, twisting it until she was encircled with roaring, razor-sharp winds, the force of her jutsu slowly, but inevitably dragging every enemy left into the tornado.

Kankuro felt himself losing his footing on the loose sand, until a heavy arm of it raised to tether him to the earth. He flashed a grin over his shoulder as his brother effortlessly walked up to his side. "She's really not holding back, huh?"

He didn't get a response, Gaara was more focused on the whirlwind growing ever taller and more vicious, before finally, it burst apart, sand, rock and men flying in all directions.

Before he could even catch a glimpse of where they landed, a great tidal wave of sand rushed down from the dunes around them, loose grains and small stones dropping onto Kankuro's head as it passed overhead, before crashing down where the enemies had been thrown, the thunderous crushing of sand into stone sending reverberations through the sand for miles around, juddering his bones painfully as he struggled to maintain his footing.

Finally, all was still and deathly quiet, only the ever-present wind whistling its sorrowful tune. Kankuro was still panting from exertion as he stared into the pit of hardened sand.

"Ok… I think you got 'em."

A hand swatted lightly at the back of his head as Temari staggered up to him, managing to cough out a breathless, "Idiot," through her wheezing.

"Hey, you never know!"

Temari frowned at him, fussing with her hair; there wasn't any hope of getting it back into her usual ponytails anymore, the wind and sand blown about in their battle had matted it into a wild, gravity-defying mess that made even him wince in sympathy thinking about the brushing she'd need to give it once they got home. "What're you grinning like that for?" she asked, wincing as a finger caught on a tangle.

He shrugged and helpfully picked out the tiny scorpion struggling through her locks – must've been dropped there with Gaara's last attack – and gently laid it in the shadow of a small rock, it immediately burrowed under the sand. "Dunno, just having fun I guess."

"You didn't hit your head, did you?" his little brother asked as he wandered away from the huge crater now decorating the landscape. Unlike him and Temari, Gaara didn't appear any more ruffled than he had when he'd left the house this morning, hair still mostly slicked to the side, except those few strands that never quite stayed put no matter what he did. "We should get back home, if you're feeling concussive effects-"

Snorting, he reached out to mess that hair up so they all matched. "Relax kiddo, I'm fine, just forgot how fun it is battling beside you guys… even if you two still don't know the meaning of the word 'overkill'."