Gaara?
Not Gaara.
Suna would never allow their jinchuuriki to fall into the hands of Konoha.
Besides Gaara was almost like a... newborn now.
Fresh and new and full of limitless possibility.
Baki couldn't take his gaze off him.
Rather than a monster inside the boy there had been a boy inside the monster all along.
And now he was free.
Free to sleep. And laugh. And live.
Not Gaara.
Kankuro?
Not Kankuro.
Even though he was the most annoying, loud-mouthed, insufferable, know-it-all, brat
And even though Baki's voice was hoarse from the times he'd yelled "What were you thinking!"
Still, Kankuro was brilliant, he was reliable, honorable and a worthy heir to Suna's puppetmaster techniques.
He was what Sand shinobi used to be.
Besides, Kankuro was the closest thing he had to a brother.
Or a son.
Not Kankuro.
Temari?
Not Temari.
To not have her footsteps light down the hall?
Her laughter like a spring in the desert?
No.
He had been assigned to look after her.
Karura had chosen him.
The day she was born Karura dismissed her ladies and called him, a scrawny fifteen year old to her saying, You're the best among my guards, you'll be her personal guardian won't you, Baki?
No.
Not Temari.