傷み 【いたみ】 (n) grief; distress; damage; bruise

Kankuro didn't speak for the rest of the day. Any questions that nurses or Sakura asked were answered with nothing more than a nod or a shake of his head. When 11 pm had passed and Kankuro still hadn't even closed his eyes, Sakura decided to give him a sedative to help him sleep. She turned off the lights and left the room that night only after she was sure he was sleeping. As she walked down the corridor to head home, she prayed that his brother or sister would arrive quickly.

When Kankuro next woke, the room was bright enough that it had to be late morning. He knew he had visitors before he opened his eyes. He could smell sand and wind and when he opened his eyes, he saw the people that he most wanted, and most dreaded, to see. "Temari? How did you get here so fast?" Damn it, his voice was still raspy. "Gaara? Was it ok for you to leave?" Temari, smiling, shifted from her chair to the edge of his bed, but Gaara maintained his position looking out the window.

"We actually got in really early in the morning, but a nurse said you were sleeping, and frankly, we were dead tired."

"You mean, you were dead tired."

"Shut it, Gaara! Not everyone is as fast as you, you damn insomniac!" By the time Temari turned back to Kankuro from yelling at her other little brother, her smile was firmly back in place. "And what do you mean so fast? You've been in here for 3 days already, there was no way in hell that we weren't going to run the entire way, and it only takes three days to get here from Suna if you don't rush! And we would've left earlier, but the council…" Temari glanced at the Kazekage warily, "was being… how should I put this…" Gaara's baritone seemed loud in the quiet room.

"Annoying? Troublesome? Was willfully provoking homicide?"

"Gaara, they weren't doing it just to piss you off!" Temari turned back to Kankuro who was now quite confused. Gaara hadn't mentioned wanting to kill the council in several years. Maim a few specific members, yes. Murder them all? Not in a while. Temari continued. "That group of rogue ninjas managed to make an attack within a mile of the city on the day we heard you were injured and the council decided that Gaara had to stay in case they made a move on the village itself."

Kankuro couldn't believe it. He would've been outraged if he hadn't been so tired. And drugged. What the hell did Sakura give him last night? "Gaara, why are you here then?" Gaara turned to him. If Kankuro hadn't gotten closer to his brother in the past few years, he never would have even noticed the How much medication are you on? look that Gaara was currently giving him. To an outsider, he would've looked like his usual, mildly annoyed self.

"I handled the situation and then we left." He turned back to the window. Temari snorted.

"By 'handled the situation,' he means that he caught two of the thieves and impaled them, alive, on stakes just outside of the village gates as warnings to their comrades." Gaara looked smug.

"It certainly convinced the council to let me leave." Kankuro almost laughed, the humor helping to clear his head. He could just picture the looks of fear on the council members' faces when his baby brother told them that he would then be leaving. Well, on everyone's but Baki's. Hell, Baki had probably looked proud. Or at least amused.

After a few moments of Temari chuckling and Kankuro trying to find the energy to, Gaara's face turned serious. "Kankuro, what happened?" Leave it to Gaara to be blunt and remind Kankuro of what he so desperately wanted to forget. He didn't want to remember where he was or why he was there. He wanted to pretend that his conversation with Sakura had never happened. Kankuro didn't answer, instead turning his head to look at the refilled pitcher of water to his right.

Temari placed a comforting hand on his thigh. "Kankuro…"

No. He couldn't tell them what she'd said. They weren't just his family. His sister was a superior-ranking jounin and his brother… His brother was the leader of the village which relied on Kankuro's skills – on Kankuro's hands – to help protect their people. He couldn't tell them. He couldn't bring himself to say it. He couldn't even think the words… No. His brother would have to order him if he wanted an answer.

Gaara and Temari just looked at him for a little while, hoping he would answer. Sakura hadn't been in earlier and the nurse on duty had suggested that they try to get him to talk about it. Gaara knew that he could give his brother an order, but looking at him, seeing how small he seemed sitting in that bed… He couldn't do it. Kankuro was his brother before he was his subordinate. They both had worked so hard over the past few years to start a relationship worthy of the term "brothers" and Kankuro had done so much to help him, not only with his position as Kazekage, but with his attempts to regain his humanity. So Gaara decided to find Sakura.

Temari sat quietly with Kankuro while Gaara was out of the room. It hurt her to look at him sitting there, staring at his hands, looking as though he was trying desperately not to cry. She didn't know that as he sat there the words going through his mind were just that – Don't cry. You can't cry. Don't cry…

When Gaara reentered the room, closing the door softly, stepping over to the bed, around the fan and gourd propped against the wall, Temari couldn't read his face. It seemed just as impassive as ever. While she had gotten better at reading his minute facial changes, she couldn't read anything at this moment. Kankuro couldn't either. And it terrified him. What's he going to say? What's he going to do? I'm useless if I don't have my hands – if I don't have my chakra. I don't… I can't… No! Don't cry! Kankuro continued to stare at his hands as his brother sat down on the edge of his bed, across from Temari. Don't cry! Gaara looked at his brother for a second before reaching out. He pulled him into his arms and held him there.

Kankuro started crying.

Temari wasn't sure what to do. Two things had just occurred; one she hadn't seen since they were children, and one she had never seen, though she had hoped she eventually would. The first was Kankuro crying. The last time he had cried was when… Well, she wasn't sure when, but she knew it hadn't happened since they started at the Academy. The second… Her baby brother Gaara – the cold Kazekage – had just shown affection. He had hugged his brother and was now holding him as his big brother sobbed in his arms, bandaged hands lying uselessly in his lap. She knew their relationship had greatly improved, but to see this… And then it hit her.

Gaara was hugging Kankuro as Kankuro criedin the hospital. Things weren't going to be okay, as she'd been telling herself on the entire run from Suna to Konoha. Her little brother obviously wasn't going to die, but that didn't mean that his livelihood wasn't going to be taken away.

Thoughts ran through her mind as she watched her brothers. Thoughts about her brother's injuries. What would he do without his puppets? If he couldn't use his hands at all, could he even teach? What would he do if he wasn't a ninja? The village needed him.

But it didn't matter. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that he was alive and that he would cope. She and Gaara would be there to help him and that's all that mattered.

She scooted closer on the bed and wrapped her arms around both of her brothers. Her voice could barely be heard over Kankuro's cries.

"Don't worry, Kanky. We're here. We're together. And that's all that matters."