Finally! A chapter right on schedule! I thought I wouldn't be able to post this up.

Special thanks to:
MidnightCherryBlossoms, my beloved beta who's been sick but did her job anyway!
Shifuni
GaarasMyBoyzz
Beccalove94
JessLuvsWriting
ShioriOokami
SilverMistKunoichi

Only a small band of readers, but I really cherish each and every one of your support! You are the reason for why I strive to better my writing!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd be sitting in a mansion answering fan mail.

This story will not have any relation to Naruto's dream of achieving Sasuke Uchiha's return or defeating Orochimaru. This happens a little bit after the Rescue Gaara arc. In other words, kind of AU. Thought you should know.

It sounded like something only a stalker would probably say, but Gaara found it rather interesting to watch Kohaku work her way around the vast floor of the archives. She didn't bat an eye at the way the shelves towered over her, but instead had her jaw set in a distinctly determined line while she started stacking up the chairs found in the archives to get to the upper level of shelves, until Gaara had an administrator in the archives come over with a ladder.

"Chibi. Do you always have to insist on living true to your name?" he had asked, as he gestured over to the ladder leaning against the bookcase that Kohaku was currently attempting to conquer, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were doing it on purpose."

A cold gaze of annoyance stemming from Kohaku's blank expression found its way towards Gaara, as she momentarily stopped her work in stacking up the chairs. "You could have informed me of the availability of the ladder beforehand, Kazekage-sama," she began to disassemble the precariously teetering stack of chairs, "And I do not understand what you are insinuating by living true to my name. The name 'Kohaku' has no significance. It is merely a word to identify me with, and nothing more,"

Gaara guided some sand towards the chairs and helped to bring them down, crumbling the grains from his armor of sand, since he wasn't one to carry around his gourd when he wasn't on active, shinobi duty. "I didn't mean that name," he replied, ignoring the reprimanding stabs that the girl's eyes were shooting him with, "I meant the name 'Chibi',"

Kohaku made a strangled sound - her version of a snort of derision that Gaara had become accustomed to - as she pushed the chairs back to their original places. "That appellation is ludicrous, and it is by no means my name,"

The redhead folded his arms back across his chest again, the sand solidifying against his skin. His eyes rested on Kohaku thoughtfully. "And yet you answer to it," he noted with a slight smile, "And your first name isn't a name with no meaning. I'm sure your parents must have meant to name you after those pr- eyes of yours,"

Gaara nearly bit his tongue when he had narrowly missed saying something he knew was abnormal to mention. He had nearly said that her eyes were pretty.

Pretty. Not only did that sound like something only a child would say, it was definitely not something that someone like Gaara would say.

What was wrong with him? Why was he acting so impulsively today? First the chin-grabbing, and now here he was, thinking that Kohaku's blank, near emotionless eyes were pretty.

But then, a part of Gaara's mind grudgingly admitted that her eyes were indeed somewhat captivating. Mostly empty, but for someone who watched her so often, he knew that at times emotion ghosted through them, like a phantom making its way through her hazel eyes. But Gaara didn't agree with hazel, though. It was more accurately represented by the dark hues of liquid, molten amber.

Gaara now wanted to slap himself, or at least bury himself alive in one of his own sand coffins, when he realized that he was thinking about the girl before him in a somewhat unscrupulous manner.

"My parents. Of course." Kohaku's tone was short, making Gaara raise a brow, distracting him from mentally berating his careless thoughts.

The young Kazekage knew that tone all too well. It was the one that people used when they were reminded of something that they didn't want to remember. Was she like him as well in that aspect?

A vague memory of his strict, distant father flashed menacingly in Gaara's mind, then another piece of the past surfaced; this time it was the angelic, smiling face of Yashamaru.

Overwhelming fury and anger started to bubble in the pits of his stomach, but the boy quelled it, clenching his fist tightly.

Definitely not something he wanted to remember.

"Kazekage-sama. I know I am not in a place to question your anomalous habits, but why did you destroy the ladder?"

Kohaku's words attracted Gaara's attention, and he belatedly remembered that he'd been guiding the ladder towards Kohaku with a bit of the sand that hadn't materialized back into place against his skin. Broken splinters lay on the wooden floor, sprinkled with the sand that had been holding the ladder before its unfortunate demise.

Oops.

"Sorry," Gaara looked down, willing the grains of sand on the floor to rise, "I lost control for a second,"

Kohaku did not say a word, but instead threw the redhead with a contemptuous glance before turning around, reaching for the chair she had just returned.

"Don't," Gaara reached out a hand to block her, "Let me help,"

A very slight shift in her eyebrows told Gaara that Kohaku was skeptical of his words, and Gaara sighed. "I'm not going to destroy anything else, I promise," he muttered, cracks lining his face as his whole armor crumbled from his body and swirled in the space before him.

Slowly gesturing with his hand, the whole mound of sand followed his movements, and crept around the base of Kohaku's feet, lifting the girl up towards the topmost shelves. Kohaku's lips pressed into a thin line, a misanthropic expression on her face when she slightly wobbled from the sudden change of height, away from the ground.

"Relax, you're not going to fall," Gaara noted the look on the girl's face with amusement, "I'm heavier than you, so you're not much of a problem to transport,"

Kohaku cast one last look of doubt before reaching for the book she had been vying for, and the sand lowered her down again, reforming against Gaara's body. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Gaara asked, as Kohaku flipped through the book; Gaara could see that satisfaction lit up her eyes as they scanned the pages.

"Thank you for your assistance, Kazekage-sama," Kohaku said quietly, looking up from browsing the book, "I apologize for taking up your time."

Obviously, Kohaku was already expecting the redhead to leave her alone. And even more obvious, was the fact that Gaara was definitely not going to leave Kohaku alone in the archives unattended.

Was it because he distrusted her? That he thought she was going to break open the seals of some of the files and steal the documents?

That would have been the most logical explanation, seeing as Kohaku wasn't a fellow Suna shinobi, despite the fact that Konohagakure and Sunagakure had extremely close ties. Someone as strange as Kohaku could not be completely trusted.

However, what Gaara was worried about was the fact that albeit the fact she was probably a formidable shinobi in her own right, she would probably be targeted by unsavory characters that did administrative work in the archives; ones that hid behind polite, professional masks during the daytime and became complete hooligans when off the clock. She was a complete midget with a powerful aura of repulsion, but that didn't change the fact that she was a girl with nice and pretty eyes tha- wait.

Did he just really think that?

Now Gaara wanted to bury himself alive in his sand waterfall and hope that he would die of suffocation instead of shame.

"Kazekage-sama, I hope that you are aware of the fact that ogling is not something I look upon kindly,"

Once again, Kohaku had saved him from killing himself mentally.

Gaara blinked, taking a step backwards from the owlish stare that Kohaku was giving him. "Look who's talking," he scoffed, heat prickling his cheeks as he was reminded of his strange thoughts from before.

It was definitely a good thing that he had his sand armor. He didn't need her to ask about the sudden sunburn on his skin.

"Aha! I found you!" a masculine voice suddenly broke the awkward silence between the two, "Gaara, what're you doing here? I've been looking for you!"

Two differently-coloured pairs of eyes looked askance to see a black-garbed man with an arm wrapped around the large sand gourd balanced against his side.

"Kankuro?" Gaara's gaze fell onto his gourd, "What is it?"

Kankuro's look of irritation was not masked by the violet face paint that marked his face. "You were supposed to meet me and Temari at your office!" he was obviously not intent on masking the annoyance in his voice, either.

"It's Temari and I,"

"Never mind that, you're late for the council meeting!"

"Ah, the council meeting," Only then did Gaara remember that he was supposed to be in the conference hall with the village's elders. How could he have forgotten about it?

"Yes, the council meeting. The one where all the old coo- I mean, the elders gather to discuss about the affairs of the village. The one held every month on the same day of the first week," Kankuro obviously had the same sarcasm that both Gaara and Temari were capable of, "The one that you're late for?"

Gaara froze momentarily when he realized his mistake, feeling Kohaku's eyes burning a hole in his back. "You were supposed to bring my robes, then," he decided to play it cool, pretending that Kohaku wasn't watching him, "Not my gourd. You're obviously not as efficient as Temari. Let's go now. I'm already late as it is,"

Kankuro gaped at his younger brother in disbelief as the Kazekage left, tossing the titian-haired girl a nonchalant, "I'll see you later," before leaving through the door.

The puppeteer then realized that he was the only one left. He fumbled with Gaara's gourd as he hastened to leave. "Hey! Gaara!"

xxxxx

"The sleeves are too long. Are you sure you prepared the ones in my size and not the ones that belonged to our father?"

Gaara held up an arm, inspecting the dangling sleeve of the robe that Temari had given him when they had met up on the way to the conference hall. "No! Those are yours! The same ones you always wear!" Kankuro insisted hotly, still carrying Gaara's gourd, "I got them from your closet! There's no way our father's robes could've gotten in there!"

"Gaara, stop antagonizing Kankuro," Temari said with a dry tone, reaching over for the sleeve and rolling it up her youngest brother's forearm, "These are yours and you know it,"

"I was trying to get back at him," Gaara dismissively raised the other arm for Temari to work on, "Kankuro's a complete blockhead with no sensitivity to speak of,"

Kankuro rubbed the back of his head, struggling with the container of Gaara's sand as they continued down the vast corridor. "What d'you mean?" he asked, confusion on his face changed into one of understanding when he repeated Gaara's words in his head. A smirk appeared on his painted lips. "Did I embarrass you in front of your girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend," Gaara glared at his brother as they made a turn around a corner, "She is a friend. Although I don't think she likes being called my friend,"

"She's the one that gave you so much trouble, right?" Temari smirked, seeing the disbelieving look Kankuro was throwing at their brother, "Don't try to deny it, Gaara. You're only going to make us suspect you even more,"

"Imagine, a girl that can make him forget his Kazekage duties and worry about little things!" Kankuro's sardonic tone irked the Kazekage, "I never thought that day would come. I always thought Gaara was going to die old and lonely,"

"At least I'm not going to die young by the hands of my brother," Gaara threatened, eyes moving from Kankuro to the gourd the puppeteer was carrying, "You carrying my gourd only serves to further simplify things for me. I can just say that you decided to commit suicide by controlling my body with your puppetry. I'll probably add in that the reason for your intention on committing suicide is because you broke one of your puppets,"

Kankuro gasped, shooting his brother a pointed look. "You wouldn't,"

"Then you don't know me all that well then," Gaara scoffed, as they reached the massive doors of the conference hall, "Why are you still carrying that, by the way?"

The three siblings looked at the gourd in Kankuro's arms. Temari raised a pale eyebrow, resting a gloved hand against her hip as she pulled her fan off her back, angling it against the floor. She drummed her fingers questioningly against the tip of the fan, the other hand raising the conical hat that belonged to her youngest brother.

"I was wondering the same thing too," she handed Gaara his hat, "Why are you carrying that around? You do know that Gaara is attending a meeting with people that are way past the age for battle, so there is hardly a chance of battle taking place, right?"

Kankuro, once again, started gaping in embarrassment. "Stop questioning me! He needs to be prepared for battle at the shortest notice!" Kankuro sputtered petulantly, "You should begrateful that I'm doing this! When Gaara's ambushed and I'm the one with his gourd, he'll be indebted to me for the rest of his life!"

"Right," the two siblings gave their brother a dubious look, making Kankuro proceed to sulking like a querulous child. The effect Kankuro's kabuki face-paint had on his sulk was eldritch - he resembled an unhappy clown.

"Kankuro - stop that. You're going to scare children," came Temari's snide remark.

"Hey!"

"Thank you for escorting me. I'll try to be as quick as possible," Gaara nodded to his sister, before entering the hall and closing the doors behind him. Kankuro and Temari winced slightly when an enraged 'YOU'RE LATE!' could be heard in faint tones.

"Glad I'm not in there," Kankuro slumped onto the ground, pulling off the scrolls strapped to his back to make his back comfortable against the wall, "Those old coots have become more terrifying once they realized Gaara won't kill them for shouting at him,"

"Yeah, well, that's the way old people are. Putting that aside-," Temari leaned against the wall, standing beside her brother, "-what was Gaara doing with Shishimiya?"

Taken by surprise, Kankuro looked up timidly, only to be met with the predatory grin that often gave him nightmares. He scooted a few inches away from his sister, clutching at his scrolls with extreme paranoia. Having seen that same smile a time too many when he'd forgotten to water her plants when she left on missions without him or Gaara, Kankuro was smart enough to take precautions in order to save himself from Temari's psychotic wrath.

Shukaku Gaara was scary, but diabolical Temari was in an entire league of her own.

"I think t-they were talking…" Kankuro trailed off nervously, still greatly affected by the leer Temari was presenting him with, "I think they were arguing about ogling at each other,"

"Ogling?" Kankuro whimpered uncharacteristically when Temari's leer intensified, her grin stretching wider and her brows raising even higher, almost disappearing behind her forehead protector.

"What do you care?"

"Oh, I care. A lot," Temari snickered to herself, making Kankuro shiver anxiously, "Let me tell you a story, Kankuro, since we have some time until Gaara's meeting is adjourned,"

"Story?"

xxxxx

Kohaku stepped out of the library building, the book she had gotten with Gaara's help was in her hands. Truly, she had been surprised when Kankuro had shown up, scolding the Kazekage for his forgetting about some appointment that Kohaku had not bothered to commit to memory.

Gaara had been acting somewhat strange today, Kohaku noted as her eyes landed on the book. He had been spacing out a lot, which was peculiar, even for the lily-livered Kazekage that Kohaku was vaguely familiar with.

A distant screech attracted Kohaku's attention, and she looked up from her book with mild interest. A magnificent hawk with a menacing gleam in its eyes and bronze feathers that shone with a polished gleam soared in the air above her, obviously flying in the direction of the aviary. Bells of recognition started ringing in her head, when she realized the hawk was a Konohagakure messenger.

"Master…"

And so, Kankuro is finally making his next appearance! I can promise you that more is on the way!

FAQ Time!

Whiny Kankuro! That's really weird.
Is it? Is it really? I find Kankuro to be the most comedic of the three siblings. Have you watched the filler episode, Episode 182 of the Naruto: Shippuuden series?

Why does Kankuro keep dragging Gaara's gourd around?
Kankuro and Temari both do it a lot during the Kage Summit meeting, since weapons aren't allowed in the meeting room. I found it funny how Gaara left the room and Kankuro had to run after him with his gourd in tow.

So, as always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Luv,
Pichuzilla