Short chapter and very delayed, I know. D: I apologize!

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"All trust involves vulnerability and risk, and nothing would count as trust if there was no possibility of betrayal." - Robert C. Solomon

I remained in bed for a long time the next morning. I wasn't quite ready to get up and face the day.

As soon as my alarm clock starting blaring in my ear, my fist swung over and slammed on the "off" button. I didn't want to wake anyone else up because I knew if I did, they'd expect me to get up, too. "Laziness" was my middle name these days.

My mind wandered to the three siblings. Knowing Gaara never slept, I wondered if Kankuro and Temari were awake yet. How far away was Serisu? How much longer did I have to spend with Kankuro before we parted ways once again?

I started to chew on the inside of my cheek. Would I ever hear from him again once they left? If he had still been with Serisu, that answer probably would've been a solid "no." But now…I wasn't entirely sure. After all, it did seem like he wanted to be friends again.

A soft chuckle came from my throat. "Friends," I whispered to myself, thinking back to when he and I had been just that.

()()()

"Why can't I go watch you?" I asked for the hundredth time that day. Even though the Chuunin Exams were three weeks away, I wanted to know at that moment why Kankuro didn't want me coming.

"Because I know you're supporting me, even if you're at home," he replied, hooking his thumbs on the belt loops on my pants. Every time I asked that question, he gave me a different answer.

I frowned and leaned slightly away from him, placing my hands on the balls of my feet. He, too, leaned back, uncrossing his legs from under me to stretch them out on my bed. We had many entangled sitting positions, but this was one of our favorites. However, if any of my family members found us like this, there would be fighting. It was the traditional straddling position, but there was nothing sexual about it.

"You want to know what I think?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.

He raised an eyebrow and gave me that cocky smirk he used every so often when dealing with people who amused him. "Depends. Will it make me upset?"

"I think you're scared that they'll pick me to fight you instead. You're scared I'll beat you," I joked.

Kankuro's smirk broke out into a full-blown smile and he nodded. "You're a genius, Haketa. That's exactly why. How'd you know I'm terrified of you?"

"Like you said, I'm a genius."

Suddenly, the smile fell into a straight line and he glared daggers at me. With one swift motion, I was pushed onto my back and he was on all fours above me. Honestly, I was alarmed until the tip of his nose touched mine.

"You know I'd never intentionally hurt you, right?" he mumbled. His breath tickled my lips and I tried my hardest not to lick them.

"I-I guess."

()()()

Thinking back on it, what Kankuro said was true. He never intentionally hurt me. The only times I was hurt by his actions was when he made Crow tackle me and when the poison gas got into my lungs. The puppet didn't even tackle me that hard. I was sort of a weakling back then.

From the hallway, I started to hear rustling noises. Kyan must've been awake and getting ready to start her day. I sighed to myself. I should've been doing the same thing, but I just felt so exhausted. All I wanted to do was lie in bed all day.

"G-Get up," Kyan told me, practically kicking my door open. I instantly wrapped myself up deeper into my blankets, hiding my face from her. There was no way I was leaving my bed yet.

I squealed in laughter as she lay on top of me, finding the bottoms of my feet. I tried my hardest to kick her off, but as she tickled my left foot, she sat on my right leg.

"STOP!" I playfully screamed, trying to catch my breath in between gasps for air. Finally, she released me and pushed me from my bed. I landed on the hard floor on my butt and pouted, crawling toward the door. "You're a terrible person, Kyan."

"Yeah, I kn-know."

Looking at myself in the mirror of the bathroom, I frowned as my mess of hair caught my attention. I began the odious task of running a brush through it while attempting to picture the hands that had once been familiar to me smoothing it out while I fell into a languid state.

Serisu's face flashed through my mind and the hairbrush came to a sudden halt. There were so many different kinds of thoughts that involved her running through my head.

The second I imagined her and Kankuro touching and kissing, my gut swirled with pain. Although I had, for the most part, pushed away my rancor feelings for the girl, I could still feel the remnants of jealousy smacking against my subconscious.

Why exactly did I still feel jealous of her? Other than the fact that she lived in the same village as Kankuro, could see him any time she really wanted to, and had gotten her hands on him many times, I wasn't sure. After all, he did leave her because of me.

I watched a devious smirk form on my drowsy face. That little fact shot my mood up instantly. Kankuro left Serisu for me.

Suffocating my face into a damp towel, I shook my head. Why would that make any difference? If I were Kankuro, I would've left Serisu for any girl. It wasn't as if he and I would ever become what we used to be, right?

"That's exactly right," I replied aloud to my reflection.

I could've sworn my reflection rolled her eyes at that statement.