A.N.- Hey there! I know everyone is probably dying to know what happens with Gaara and Sakura, but first I have to tie up my other two couples…or at least try to Temari and Sasuke may prove to be stubborn we'll just have to see. But in this chapter I focus solely on Kankuro and Yura. And then Temari and Sasuke and then…the fun starts! Yes…then the fun fluff turns into something hotter…hopefully I write those chapters well enough. Again I don't know the citrusy title they should have…so I will simply promise a passionate chapter for each couple ok? But until then please enjoy a little more fluff okey dokey? I hope you all love it!

To HalfBloodPhoenix- lol glad you love it! Its great. Thank you! I hope you like chapter 21!

To BluePanda22311-Aw thank you! I'm glad you got that! The whole innocence thing. Yes he's not innocent per say but when dealing with concepts of love I imagine he would be. Lol, your comment to Sakura was so cute! And I just love that you think my story is amazinglysuperfantastical! That's such an awesome compliment! Thank you for reviewing! Please enjoy this next chapter too!

To JPLteen- Yes the couples are all falling into place. I'm so excited! But no…this story isn't almost over. In fact I'm kind of afraid I have too much planned…how long is too long for a fic? Thanks for reviewing! And I hope you enjoy chapter 21!

To OoOlady heatherOoO- Thank you! I thought it would be sweet if he did that I am so so happy you thought so too! And me too. Am so happy they are together now they are so cute together that's why I got them together first! Hee hee. Thank you for reviewing! I hope you like how chapter 21 goes!

To gOthiCkUrOcHo69- Hi! Neat name! And yep they're together! Aren't they sweet together? And I'm thrilled you cant wait! Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you froe reviewing!

To Gothic Saku-chan- Aw you thought it was cute? Thank you! I'm so glad you loved it! Lol…well actually…the only one who would normally even bother following the rule is Hinata and she's now dating Naruto an almost champion rule breaker you know? What I'm saying is Hinata is the only one worried about it, the rest do what they feel like mostly. So…to answer your question…Sakura in Gaara's room Friday night. Saturday has a different plan…I hope I didn't give too much away with that. But I wanted to answer your question an tell why its not Saturday like with the rule. Anyway…Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Thank you everyone! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

It was late afternoon as Kankuro strolled through campus. He didn't have anymore classes for the day but he couldn't leave and kill time somewhere else because of that stupid orientation ceremony this evening.

The boy sighed heavily and shoved his hands into his pockets.

His friends all had classes still. So here he was left with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to hang out with.

To put it simply Kankuro was bored out of his frigging mind!

In fact, he was about to give up his search for something to do and just head back to his dorm for a nap when he heard a familiar yell.

"Put me down dammit!"

That was Yura!

Rushing to her aid Kankuro surveyed the scene when he got close enough. There was a large man with fists the size of an elephant's head attacking her! He had her held up against the mossy stone wall that ran along the whole campus perimeter. One of the man's hands was enough to hold her down. It was large enough to hold her by the torso and press her into the wall.

Whipping out his blue chakra strings Kankuro prepared to attack and get the bastard off of her.

Yura noticed him and gave him the slightest shake of her head to stop him.

Confused at her actions Kankuro slowed down.

She gets attacked by the Hulk and she doesn't want help? What? Why?

He understood independence, hell, he lived with Temari the very definition of Miss Independent but seriously there had to be a line to cross somewhere.

Her pale blue eyes flickered down a moment and Kankuro then saw the reason for her warning. The huge man had a gun in his other hand!

Ah. He thought, realizing she'd only wanted him to stay safe.

Understanding her fear he grinned at her and held up his thumb to say ' I got it, okay.'

The big man's voice thundered out as he told Yura, "You need to stop being so damn stubborn."

Yura smirked, "Oh, but why? That's half my fun."

"Quit your games!" the man shouted pressing her further into the stone wall.

"You know the deal!" he snapped, "If you don't hold up your end then I'll be required to hold up mine."

Yura muttered, "Yes, and I am so sure that is just the worst chore for you in the world, right? You don't look like you enjoy your job at all."

"Shut your trap! You need to straighten up or you're a dead pussy! Are you hearing me?"

She snapped back , "Yeah, I'm hearing you and I'm telling you again that's not what you asked for! It wasn't in this deal and so I don't owe you shit! I'm not doing this for ya! Now put me down, you sorry mother fucker, or you'll really wish you had!"

He slapped her, pistol whipped really seeing as how his gun was still drawn. Kankuro felt fury envelop him. How dare he! Not only did he hit a girl but he hit such a tiny girl with such huge elephant head hands! It was a wonder her head was still on her shoulders after that! The bastard was gonna pay for that. Kankuro swore to it.

The fist clenching around her middle squeezed her harder.

Yura hissed at the man, "Do what you want bastard! I'm not doing it! Now back the fuck down before I make you!"

She sure has a set of lungs. Kankuro mused as he silently sidled up behind the man.

Good ol' ninja stealth. Kankuro thought chuckling silently.

The puppet master unraveled his chakra strings, made a triple thick rope with it and began to carefully wind it around the man who luckily remained unaware of his presence and what he was doing.

Yura saw however and she grinned.

"Whatchya smiling at like a Cheshire cat?" the big man snarled.

"This." she cooed just before she kicked her leg out with amazing speed and sent his gun flying off into the thick shrubbery that was against the wall in places.

The man jerked his hand back to hit her but Kankuro sprung his trap. Securing the man's arms to his body and stringing him up in the air before the man could even realize a third person was on the scene.

"Too slow." Kankuro smirked. He was about to tighten his strings and off the guy when Yura who had been dropped when the attacker was jerked up into the air stood from the sidewalk she'd landed on and smiled at him.

"Hold on one moment, Konkers. I have to settle something with this fucker first."

"Sure thing." he said grinning at her.

Yura grinned back then turned the man into her personal punching bag slash scratching post.

Kankuro stood back, amazed as her hands moved in a flurry of motion. It was almost too fast to follow.

A few moments later she turned to him. "Okay. All done. I think that more than makes up for what he did to me."

Kankuro flicked his wrist and the guy was sliced into four pieces. He then pulled out a small scroll and tossed it out. The scroll unraveled to reveal Crow. He'd made the puppet shrink down to the travel sized scroll so he could have it in classes with him.

"Crow, dispose of this body. He's a criminal. No one will miss him much."

His puppet bowed and then at Kankuro's command scooped the body pieces off and disappeared.

"What was that? That thing you were wearing on your back at the carnival?"

Kankuro followed the path of his puppet with his mind and saw that the puppet had made it safely.

"Well, uh, yeah that was Crow, he's my puppet."

"Oh, alright." she sounded weak. Kankuro turned to look at her.

"Holy hell!" he shouted.

"Gee thanks." she muttered.

Kankuro shook his head, "No, its not that its just, you got hurt. I didn't want that to happen."

"Oh its fine. I just need to get back to my dorm building and find Kiki."

"Your little sister? How can she help?"

"She can heal people."

"So she's a medic then?"

"Sort of. Hey, Konkers will you help me out?"

"Uh, oh yeah. Sure."

He gently wrapped an arm around her waist and began to help her walk.

"You know I could carry you." he offered.

"Actually I want you to do something else." Yura replied with a tired grin.

"Sure thing. What?" Kankuro asked turning to look her in the bruised face.

"Your puppet teleported. Do that with me. To me to my building. Please. I'm too lazy to wait for my bed." Yura told him as she leaned fully on him.

"Uh…" he couldn't start a new path until Crow returned from his. What should he do?

Crow fortunately chose that moment to come back empty handed.

"Good job, Crow!" Kankuro praised. The figure was then rewrapped in bandages and shrunk back to fit in the scroll so it could go in Kankuro's baggy pocket.

"Alright, now that he's back I can do that. Just hold on to me."

Yura did as told and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The two of them reappeared in the hallway of her dorm building.

Kankuro quickly helped Yura to her room. It was much darker in this room than Temari, Sakura, and Hinata's.

He helped her onto her bed and sat on the edge beside her.

"So is it prying if I ask why that man was doing that?" he asked as she worked to catch her breath.

"Probably." she gasped out flashing him a still fairly saucy smile.

Kankuro gently traced a finger down her bruised face. And onto her bruised and scraped shoulder where her tank top shirt had provided no protection from the wall. Then he moved down to her legs where her shorts had helped her none as well. Her left leg seemed to be scraped all up one side where she'd landed harshly on the sidewalk. And he just knew that her ribs were either cracked, broken, or so bruised it felt like they might as well have been broken from the way that man had been holding her.

Yura smiled softly at him.

"But I think I just may tell you anyway if you keep petting me like that." the gentleness in her dark velvet voice sent shivers down his spine.

Kankuro smirked at her. "Just petting?"

She shrugged. But that must have hurt because she quickly quit. She didn't want him to see her look weak maybe. After what he'd seen her face she wasn't weak in his eyes. But he doubted she'd believe him.

Looking around the room he saw no Kiki and realized he'd need to go get her.

Kankuro rose to his feet, "Okay, so where do I find Kiki so I can get you fixed up?"

Yura took his hand, "Konkers, its almost time for her class to end. She always comes to see me when its over. We can wait. Besides you were offering me a good petting, I believe."

Her coy smile did it for him. Even if he'd needed to he couldn't have left her then.

He dropped back onto the bed and Yura smirked at him.

Her small clawed fingers trailed seductively down his thigh and teasingly circled his growing erection a few times. He groaned and leaned to capture her lips with his. Yura tightened her hold on his hardening member as his tongue tangled with hers. Holding himself up with one hand he used the other to caress her. He explored her body stopping at the hem of her shirt. He drew it up exposing her surprisingly lavender bra.

"Lavender?" he chuckled.

Yura just smirked devilishly.

Kankuro moved his hand to touch her but as he did it brushed her rib cage making her hiss with a sudden burst of pain. Which stopped Kankuro in his tracks. He looked her over.

"We can't…I can't do this." he said staring at her bruised skin.

She reached to pull him closer on top of her.

"But why? I want it, you want it." she purred. Her skilled fingers toying with him, trying to coax him into it. Yura wanted to thank him for saving her. This was the only way she could think of. He had to accept. She didn't have anything else to offer him and her moral code said she owed him something for being her knight in black baggy pants.

"Yura, I don't want to hurt you though."

Kankuro didn't get it. Normally he would jump at a chance for this, but she was hurt dammit! He couldn't hurt her further.

Yura chuckled soft and sultry. "Oh, Konkers, I don't mind. I think its worth it. Don't you?"

He shook his head, "Not if it hurts you. I…I'm not sure why but I actually care if you hurt. Weird I know but…I do."

He really didn't get it. Kankuro wasn't exactly merciless like Gaara had once been but like most sand nin he'd always found tormenting others a bit entertaining. He should have not cared either way if she hurt as long as he got something good out of the deal. But he couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

It baffled him.

Yura's eyes softened as she stared at him.

Carefully minding her ribs she crawled over to him and settled herself in his lap.

"You really actually care about me don't you." she whispered.

She was stunned to say the least. Most men just thought it fun to get with a cat girl every now and then because guys were all kinky freaks deep down. But here she was offering sweet promises of passion to him and he has to seriously think it over because he doesn't want her to suffer further injury.

No one in her entire life had ever treated her like that. The closest that came to it was Kiki, and her love was more a mix of family bond and hero worship than anything else.

But Kankuro…he…actually cared.

He turned and smiled at her running a gentle hand through her short neck length hair.

"Yura. I think I just want to hold you. Can we do that? If later you're still wanting to because I sure as hell will be, we can go find a dark corner somewhere. But…I want to wait for your sister first. Okay?"

He'd just sacrificed his pleasure for her comfort.

Yura was speechless.

Her eyes trailed down to his jeans where his erection very obviously was.

He chuckled blushing a little, "Don't worry it'll go away. Eventually."

Yura smirked at him. He was the cutest thing. He fought to defend her. Was eager to please her. Adorable how he blushed at simple things. And now above all else he put her first. He'd sacrificed himself for her. Or a t least in a sense he had. Most people were out only for their own gain, and they all had a personal goal or dream that motivated them to get it. So to sacrifice your gain or your want is just about the same as sacrificing yourself in Yura's eyes.

She couldn't stand it. It didn't make sense.

"Why?"

Kankuro blinked a few times then as his blush darkened he asked hesitantly, "Why…will it go away?"

She laughed, "No. Why would you give up the chance to be with me?"

Kankuro studied her before saying, "I didn't know I was. I thought I made it very clear I wanted to simply postpone it."

"What if I change my mind?" she challenged. There had to be a catch. There just had to be. A guy couldn't really care about her. There was a trick he was trying to get at with this….right?

He shrugged, "Then I'll wait. You'll eventually be in the mood again and when you are, I will be there ready and waiting like a good boy."

Yura grinned, "Did you just offer yourself as my sex toy."

Laughing, he nodded, "Seems that way doesn't it?"

"I accept." she answered happily.

Kankuro was willing to wait. He'd wait for her.

"Why?"

He stared at her again, "Why would I be your sex toy? Well, god Yura, I don't know, why not?" he teased.

She laughed again, holding her ribs. This laughing was making them hurt.

He saw this and cradled her gently against him.

"Sorry." he muttered.

"Its fine. And no, I know why you want to be my sex toy, stupid. For the same reason I want to be your sex kitten."

She felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter.

"What I was talking about was why will you wait? Why are you being so sweet?" she clarified.

"Me? Sweet? Haven't I told you before there isn't anything sweet about me? I am no softy."

She nodded and glanced down and muttered, "Not yet anyway…"

His cheeks flamed even more and he frowned saying, "Not what I meant. I meant I'm no softy by being sweet and sensitive and shit like that."

She rose an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Yeah, really."

A devious plan formed in her head.

Yura gasped in pain and clutched at her side tucking her head in against his sturdy chest.

"Yura what's wrong?" he asked urgently.

He gently tugged her face up to look at him and he saw her grinning wickedly.

"Except with me. You're a softy with me." she told him as she tailed a finger down his cheek.

"Sneaky bitch." he grumbled.

Yura pulled his lips down to hers for a sweet kiss.

When he pulled back he laughed, "Alright you're forgiven."

"Nice to know forgiveness comes easy with you. I am bad often."

Kankuro's eyes twinkled with mischief, "So will I have to punish my kitty when she behaves badly?"

"Oh I think that may be the only way for me to learn my lesson."

He shook his head and hugged her carefully avoiding hurting her.

Yura played with his messy brown hair and purred contently.

Kankuro laid her back on her mattress.

"You're great." he told her.

"Thanks. You're not too bad yourself." she whispered.

Kankuro shook his head.

"No, you don't understand."

"Understand what?"

He put his palm to her cheek brushing it with his thumb.

"You're really great….I…Yura I…I think…no I'm pretty sure…I'm in love with you."

She gasped and her eyes doubled in size.

Kankuro inwardly kicked himself. Way to go stupid, just ruin everything. Of course, Yura isn't the type to fall in love and if she does it wouldn't be this fast. This was just supposed to be a sex game for her. Idiot!

A timid knock on the door startled them.

Kankuro jumped off of her and practically ran to the door.

It was Kiki.

"Oh, good you're here. Your sister got into a spat with someone. She needs you to fix her up and take care of her. Okay? I'll see you around, Yura, take care of yourself! Bye!"

The cat sisters watched as the puppet master hurried down the hall.

Yura sat silently, a clawed hand resting delicately at the base of her throat, staring after him in awe.

He loves me?