"My dear, I must confess, I never thought you ever knew what love was like for real." - La Dispute - Surgeon And The Scientist

"Haketa, come on. You need to come home and sleep," Temari told me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "She isn't going to wake up just because you're staring at her."

I'd been at the hospital for over six hours with Kyan's unconscious body, sitting in a chair rather uncomfortably with her clammy hand in mine. I was exhausted, hungry, and entirely miserable, but I was terrified to leave my sister alone. Even if the Kirigakure assassins were in fact targeting Temari, what if they came back to finish Kyan off?

As if reading my mind, Temari added, "There are security personnel all over this place. If someone were to come hurt her, they'd know. Let's go home."

I decided to give in and follow her home in silence. Although it was nearly midnight, I still expected children to clutter the streets with their laughter and games. The empty roads put an anxious feeling in my gut.

It seemed as if the only lights in the village came from the Kazekage mansion. Gaara was still awake, of course. Kankuro was probably asleep just as Temari would be soon. I knew I wasn't going to sleep. Too many thoughts and worries filled my head.

As we entered the mansion, I settled my eyes on the two brothers, who were bent over a large piece of paper. Pencils were scattered about, some still on the table and some pushed off to the floor.

"Here are the pictures I got from the owner," Kankuro muttered, pushing a beige-colored envelope toward his brother.

Gaara opened it carefully and flipped through three pictures. "Hm."

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, watching Temari retire to her room for the night.

Kankuro stood and gently pulled me into his chest. "Just some research," he told me. "You should go to bed."

I glanced around his body to the paper. One of them had sloppily written the word "Kirigakure" across the top in what looked like a red crayon. Something told me they didn't have access to the resources in the Kazekage office at such a late time of night.

Lines, x's, and circles were drawn on the map, almost making it seem like a battle attack plan.

"Can I talk to you?" I whispered to Kankuro. "Alone?"

He grabbed onto my hand as we walked to his room in silence. I had no doubt in my mind that Gaara was eavesdropping, but I didn't care much.

"You're not planning a counterstrike, are you?" I questioned, sitting on the bed and crossing my arms over each other.

"Yeah, we are," he answered bluntly, crossing his arms the same way. "Its not like this is some sort of undercover mission. Baki knows about it. Besides…"

He trailed off, as if regretting the start of the new sentence. His eyes wandered from mine, focusing on the window behind me.

"Besides what?" I urged, lowing my arms to intertwine my fingers in my lap.

He let out a long sigh and returned his gaze to me. "Serisu escaped."

In a surge of panic, I hopped up with shaking legs. "She escaped? How could she have escaped?"

"With the help of the assassins who poisoned Kyan." He took my seat on the bed, gently pulling me down to sit next to him. "I don't think poisoning Temari was their only goal, if at all."

"Then what was their goal?" I stared at him intently, expecting an answer right away. I didn't get my sudden answer. Instead, I was pulled into a tight embrace to listen to his soft breaths on my ear. "Kankuro," I muttered against his skin, "please just tell me. I don't want to be left out of this."

"I think you were the target."

I wasn't surprised in the very least. Serisu had escaped with help, and what better way to spend her new free time than to get revenge on the girl who had taken the person of obsession? By attacking my sister, one of the two people closest to me, she knew it would leave me scared, vulnerable, and an emotional wreck like I'd been.

I sighed and dropped my fingertips into his palms to trace the creases in his skin. "It makes sense," I finally said. "She's just still very angry, I guess."

"We're not going to let her harm you."

I raised my gaze to meet his only to be caught in something I hadn't seen in a long time, not since he tried to talk Kyan and me out of attending the Chuunin Exams so we wouldn't be harmed in the attack.

"Gaara and Temari are extremely protective of both of you, so you'll have full-time bodyguards," he informed me.

"Well what about you?"

"Well," he started, leaning back and pulling me onto his chest, "you and I will become twins. We'll be connected at the hip and you won't even be able to shower without me there."

Even though he was somewhat trying to keep the mood serious, I broke out into giggles. Kankuro raised his head to glance at me before rolling his eyes.

"I don't know why people call me the pervert."

()()()

There was a certain way I felt that night and I couldn't exactly describe that feeling. It was a strange warmth, that much I knew for sure. What I wasn't sure of was if it was a result of an emotional creation, or the waves of pleasure I felt shortly after the sting of pain hit me.

As I rested my head on Kankuro's bare chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat and heavy breaths, I felt perfectly okay. Something had happened that wasn't expected and at first, I had been terrified. But after realizing I could never be as close to him as I was during that time, I felt more than safe, like nothing in the world could ever harm me again.

I raised my hand to allow my fingertips to dance lightly across his chest, raising goosebumps and causing a small shiver to slide through his body. In a swift motion, he rolled to his side, curled his arms around me, and pulled me into him. At that moment, he became my everything; my air, my sun, my life.

"I love you."