Chapter 18 - Interest

The day of the finals

"Ah,finally! The sun has begun to grace us with its presence!"

"Yes, Shukaku, I can see that." Gaara mumbled in return as they watched the scorching celestial body appear over the crest of the horizon. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning . . . Can't imagine why though."

"And can you blame me?" He asked, ignoring the sarcasm he heard in his young vessel's tone. "Today's finals day fleshbag! It's finally time to show off in front of all those weaklings you call competition!"

"We both know that you're only this eager for the finals because you know blood is going to be spilled today."

"Guilty as charged."

Gaara simply shook his head as he got up from his perch on the porch railing, stretching out his stiff limbs until he heard a couple of satisfying pops ringing in his ears. "The competition is going to be stiff. I'm sure none of the other competitors rested on their laurels during the month-long respite."

"I hope not. It would make their defeats all the more satisfying to watch."

"They certainly won't be easy to come by though. . . The preliminaries ensured that only the best of us remained, and they will have new tricks up their sleeves."

"But so will you,"Shukaku argued in return."I must admit, there was a lot more you could have accomplished these last few weeks, a lot more. . ."

"Thanks, I certainly needed to hear that."

"Just keeping you on your toes . . ." The tanuki chuckled, ignoring the sarcasm once again. "However, what you've managed so far, coupled with what you've already learned, should get you through to the final match just fine."

"Is this your version of a pep talk Shukaku?"

"It is, but don't expect me to do this again, at least, for a long time . . . It's weird. Leaves a queer taste in my mouth."

Gaara simply nodded as he walked back into the suite to find Kankuro sitting in the living room, already dressed. He was trying to look nonchalant, but the redhead knew his brother was nervous just by how much his right foot kept tapping, a habit he could never seem to break.

Not bothering to comment on it - mainly because all the prior times he did led to arguments that proved that his brother was as hard headed as a pile of bricks - Gaara went to his room to freshen up and change.

When he returned a half hour later, Kankuro was still on the couch, still looking tense as ever.

"Hmm, you look ready for the finals." The young prince mumbled, startling the puppeteer out of his internal reverie.

"Yeah, ready to get this day over with," Kankuro admitted as he looked up at the ceiling. "You know, a few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to this day."

"You were?" Gaara asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, I was, but as today got closer . . . I don't know. That eagerness I once felt isn't really there anymore."

"Hmm, maybe it's because you feel, deep in your bones, that you are not gonna win against Nekonome," Gaara suggested as he sat down on the other end of the couch. "When you objectively think about it, your puppet style doesn't match well against her close combat offense . . . It's a poor matchup from the start."

"Ok, for starters, I didn't need the reminder, but thanks anyway!" Kankuro exclaimed, the sarcasm rolling off him in waves.

"No problem," Gaara conceded. "That's what little brothers are for: pointing out their older siblings' faults, in any way we can."

"Well that definitely makes me feel better. . ." Kankuro grumbled, resisting the urge to pout at his brother's sudden bout of pettiness. "And no, I wasn't talking about my match against the cat girl."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"The competition . . . Today is where we truly have to shine, for the sake of our kingdom, and I don't want to fuck it up," He admitted, grimacing slightly. "There is a lot of pressure on our shoulders to do well. We are supposed to be the pride of our kingdom, and there will be many eyes on us. . ."

"I thought you weren't one for caring so much about attention?" Gaara was quick to say in return. "It was one of the main reasons you decided to learn puppet ninjutsu."

"True; puppeteering does allow me some obscurity. . . It lets me blend into the shadows while my puppets steal the show, but obscurity is hard to maintain when you're second in line to the throne."

"Hmm, that is a fair point."

"I can't hide behind my puppets forever little brother, especially not today," Kankuro conceded, looking him in the eyes. "I need to show off, you need to show off. We need to conduct ourselves in the way that fits our position as princes. . . Did I forget to mention that our kingdom's economic status is at stake here?"

"Our kingdom's economic status? Actually, I haven't given it much thought these last few weeks."

Kankuro's face blanked when he heard that.

"Brat, I think you just broke your brother."

"I don't think I broke him," Gaara mused as he looked at the puppeteer's blank face. "He's just a little shocked, that's all."

"You really haven't thought much about our kingdom's financial situation since we've gotten here?!" Kankuro asked, sounding like he was testing out the words just as he spoke them.

"I had other stuff on my mind."

"Uh, um. . . Well, I did not expect to hear that coming from your mouth." Kankuro thoughtfully concluded as he brought a hand to his chin. "You're usually much more attentive than this."

"Even I can have my off moments," Gaara conceded as he watched his brother's eyes narrow. "What?"

"Even you can have your off moments hmm?" Kankuro asked, not really believing what he was hearing. "What exactly has been on your mind that has made you this . . . distracted?"

"Well, there's Shukaku,"

"Of course, that tanuki messing with your head is always a given."

"Again, guilty as charged."

"And then there's Sh-"

"Oop, looks like you just had a slip of the tongue fleshbag," Shukaku chuckled as Gaara slowly turned away from his brother. "Let's see how you get out of this one!"

"And then there's Sh-?" Kankuro asked as Gaara failed to meet his gaze, a knowing red flag in his eyes. "Who is Sh-? Care to elaborate on that?"

"No, I'd rather not."

"What are you hiding brother?" Kankuro continued to ask, a smirk now appearing on his painted face. "C'mon, you know you can tell me. . . Are you worried I'd tell Temari if you do?"

"I'm not worried about that!" Gaara bluntly stated, his glare back in full force. It usually worked to intimidate Kankuro into silence, but it seemed faulty this time around . . .

His brother's smirk grew into a full-blown smile instead. "Just drop it, Kankuro. It's none of your concern."

"Fine, if you won't tell me what I want to know, then I'll just have to figure it out myself," said the puppeteer as he leaned back into his seat, his smugness growing more apparent by the second.

"Oh, yes… This is getting good."

"Please don't encourage him."

"He can't even HEAR me!"

"The 'Sh-' can't possibly be Shukaku since you mentioned him already . . ." Kankuro quietly debated as he brought a hand to his chin. "Let's see, how many people do we know whose name starts with 'Sh-'? It's not that many, should be someone you have interacted with before, maybe fairly recently . . ."

"Oh crap . . . He's actually thinking hard about this?!" Gaara thought as he looked at his brother in slight disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me. . ."

"This is getting better and better by the second!" Shukaku chuckled. "Trust me, it won't take long for him to figure out who the person behind your slip of the tongue. . . You should give him a biscuit if he gets it right the first try."

"You're actively rooting for his success on this one. . . Why am I not surprised?"

"The bouts of petty misery you fall into thanks to your siblings has grown to be one of my biggest enjoyments, I must admit," Shukaku admitted, sounding very pleased with himself. "Your brother may be an idiot at times, but he has proven to have a knack for being an inquisitive little shit when he wants to be."

"I GOT IT!"

"Looks like the moment of truth is here. . ."

"There is only one possible "Sh-" we know of, outside of Shukaku of course, who could hold your attention for this long, and it is someone we met recently too!" Kankuro admitted as he got out of his seat.

"Wait for it . . ."

"I'd rather not."

"YOU!" Kankuro's sudden exclamation snapped Gaara out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see him pointing his finger straight at his face. ". . . were about to say Shizuka, weren't ya?"

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!"

Gaara ignored the cackling that ensued in his head, resisting the urge to grimace as he quickly slapped his brother's finger away. Kankuro, for his part, remained unfazed, grinning victoriously instead.

"Kankuro, I was not about to say the Fire Princess's name." He told him, his tone flat as he looked his brother directly in the eye.

"You can't fool me little brother. . . Not this time."

"I hate it when he gets all smug, and when did he start developing a backbone?!"

"Some time when you weren't looking I guess."

"You are not going to let this go, are you?"

"No, not in the slightest," The brunet admitted, sporting a smug, cat-like grin. "No matter how many times you'll deny it, I know that you'll just be lying to yourself. . ."

"Well, he has you pegged, now doesn't he?"

"Brother, let's face it. . . Shukaku is no longer the only one spending time in that sandy brain of yours," Kankuro declared, crossing his arms over his chest. "The Fire Princess has officially moved in, and I think she's here to stay. . . Congratulations, I think you have your first crush on your hands!"

"Have I ever told you how much I loved your brother?"

"First off, eww. . . Second off, you only like him for the misery he brings me." Gaara countered as Temari finally walked in. "Morning Temari.".

"Good morning. . . and did I hear you right, Kankuro?" The blonde asked as she wiped the remaining sleep from her eyes. "Gaara has a crush on someone?!"

"Why me?"

"Fate works in mysterious ways, fleshbag! For now, suffer!"

"That makes me feel so much better."

"Sis, I believe our dear little brother here has a bit of an . . . interest, a fascination, in the Fire Princess." Kankuro confidently stated as she sat down in one of the other chairs.

"And it took you this long to notice that?"

Neither brother expected that response.

Kankuro was in such disbelief that he ended up face palming the ground, which muffled his grumbling as he laid there in shock and defeat.

Gaara, on the other hand, stayed completely composed as he looked at his amused sister. On the inside, his mind was silent as the grave, except for Shukaku, who cackled like a madman who successfully completed its latest rampage.

Baki walked into the room not long after the Crown Princess asked her question, his eyes immediately finding his blonde and redheaded charges engaged in a stare off.

Then he caught sight of their brother, still with his face plastering the ground, and he started wondering why he got out of bed this morning.

"Do I even want to know what happened?" He asked, letting out a defeated sigh.

"NO!" Temari and Gaara echoed, neither looking away from the other.

"I see. . ." Baki mused as he backed away. "I'm gonna call for room service. I hope whatever you are doing here stops before the food gets here."

"I'm sure we can come to an understanding by then. . ." Temari muttered as the man's footsteps receded. "And Kankuro, get up! You've been on the floor long enough!"

"How long did you know about Gaara's interest in Shizuka!?" Kankuro moaned after finally picking his face up from the carpet.

"It's not like he completely hid his interest," The wind mistress admitted, smirking as Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Stoicism may be his forte, but he still showed some signs . . . The fact that he actually showed some interest in a girl is certainly a big one."

"Then again, he has reached the age to start showing an interest in girls . . ." Kankuro mused, ". . . And here I thought he would spend his life showing no interest in women."

"Excuse me!" Gaara blurted out, his coldly sharp tone startling his brother. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"What else is it supposed to mean?!" Shukaku asked in return. "He thought you'd either be single all your life, or be into men! It's not that hard to figure out fleshbag."

Shukaku's sudden explanation immediately quieted Gaara, to the point his harsh expression softened into a complete blank slate. It spooked Kankuro a little, but Temari simply smiled, already figuring that the dangerous tanuki had explained things to the little redhead.

"I'm guessing Shukaku didn't bother to use any tact in explaining things to you." She asked her brother, who now shook his head slowly in disbelief.

"I'm sure Shukaku has no idea what the word tact even means at this point." Gaara admitted, ignoring the irritation he could feel from the tailed beast.

"I resent that fleshbag," He called out. "I may not be known for putting it to use, but I do know what tact means!"

"That must have been an awkward explanation to listen to." Kankuro added as Temari nodded her agreement.

"You have no idea. . ." Gaara admitted, just as Baki returned to the room. "Oh, you're back."

"It takes a lot more than one of your awkward situations to scare me away," The turban-wearing jonin snarky admitted as he looked around the room. "Breakfast should be here soon, and I see Kankuro has finally managed to rip his face off the carpet. . . Not a smidge of pain out of place no less."

"Ha ha, very funny," The puppeteer mumbled. "Just to let you know, I use no-smudge face paint, and, well, it's not every day you find out that your little brother finally shows some interest in the fairer sex.

"Oh, Prince Gaara's interest in Princess Shizuka . . . You didn't know that?"

Kankuro face-palmed for the second time that morning.

"You think this too?" The redhead grumbled as Shukaku cackled and Temari chuckled.

"Granted, I have not seen you interact that much with King Minato's only daughter, but what I have seen so far is telling."

"And when have you had the time to observe us?" Gaara asked, his gaze looking sharp.

"Well. the welcome dinner King Minato hosted in honor of your father's visit does come to mind."

"Oh yeah . . . That's definitely a good example." Temari teased as Gaara scowled at the reminder.

The welcome dinner was held the same day of their father's arrival, and though the visit of foreign royals would usually warrant a grand affair, the dinner was a smaller affair than what was customary, mainly out of respect for King Rasa's well known reserved nature.

Seated around a long table in one of the palace's smaller dining rooms, the Wind delegation had been placed across from their Fire counterparts, the two kings seated across from each other at the short ends. As the second son and third child, Gaara's was seated between Kankuro and Baki, across from Lady Karin, Shizuka's cousin from her mother's side of the family who was staying with the royals as Queen Kushina's ward.

Shizuka was seated between Karin and Naruto, and thus, across from Kankuro. The two barely spoke to each other directly during the entire affair, and barely contributed to the conversation going around at the table, but the glances they gave the other was more than normal, some would say.

With everyone else either talking amongst themselves or eating their fill, Gaara figured that no one else was really paying them any mind.

Considering that they lived in a world where ninjas were the norm, he should have known better.

"I should be surprised, but I'm not . . ." Gaara mumbled, his answer only inciting his siblings' amusement even more. "Who else do you think noticed?"

"Well, from what I've observed, everyone else was too immersed in the food or conversation to notice . . . Everyone that isn't a shinobi at least." Baki admitted, bringing a hand to his chin to distract himself from the mirth he felt seeing the redhead's disgruntled expression. ". . . You couldn't have been any more obvious Gaara."

"Great. . . Just great," The young prince groused. "If anyone asks, I was only looking because I know that she's a fellow jinchuriki."

"If that was the case, why didn't you give Naruto the same amount of attention then?"

Gaara never wanted to put Kankuro through a Sand Burial more than that very moment.

"At the very least, Father will not fall for that excuse," Temari mentioned, the very thought of their old man dampening the overall mood in the room. "Then again, who knows? He's seemed a little off since he first arrived, don't you think? Or is it just me?"

"When has he not seemed 'a little off' to us?" Kankuro asked as a knocking sound echoed from the door. "Our father isn't the typical parent, not even by nobility standards sis."

"Then again, your father has never been a normal man. . ."

"Baki, did you just throw shade at our father?" Temari immediately asked, sounding a little surprised as he went to answer the door.

"In the most respectful way that I could think of, of course," Baki admitted, speaking without missing a beat. "Look, I know that there has been a lot of pressure put on your shoulders these past few weeks, but you've managed to perform well despite all that."

"Mostly because we didn't even give the health of our kingdom's economy that much thought throughout this entire trip." Kankuro mused, shrugging slightly.

"And that's the kind of thinking I want you three to continue with," Baki advised, his words shocking the three to varying degrees. ". . . Today, I want you to push all those thoughts about kingdom pride and economic livelihood all the way to the back of your minds. Focus on the here and now and take each match one at a time . . . Everything else is just an afterthought."

"Huh, now that is some sage advice," Temari conceded as she joined him to greet the worker bringing in their breakfast.

"Hmm, now that Turban Head mentioned it," Shukaku mumbled."Your father reallydid have his eyes on certain people throughout that welcome dinner."

"Oh, now you mention this to me!?"

"I didn't think it was that important at the time. . . My bad."

"Care to enlighten me on who exactly my dear old dad was specifically looking at?" Gaara dared to ask, wishing that he could just smack the tanuki upside his sandy head already.

"Well, his eyes always seemed to find you and the Fire Brats, mostly because of your shared jinchuriki status. . . Healso managed to spare some of his eyesight for Queen Kushina too now that I look back on it."

"The Fire Queen?" Gaara asked as he raised an invisible eyebrow. "Why her?"

"Maybe he misses his own wife?" Shukaku thought, his suggestion making the redhead grimace. "What?! You don't think it's plausible?!"

"When it comes to my father, I don't know what to think."

"Fair point, but still . . . Yes, even I can admit the treatment your mother went through the day you were born was downright shitty, and it is his fault for allowing it in the first place, but you can't stop the man from missing his wife."

"If only I could. . . Anything else I should know about?"

"Well, I sensed slim traces of Kurama's chakra coming from the Fire Queen."

"Wait a minute. Really?!"

"As if I could ever mistake my eldest brother's chakra stench for something else?!"

"But, why would that be though?" Gaara thought, shaking his head as a worrisome thought crossed his mind.". . . You don't think Kurama was implanted into Naruto while he was still in his mother's womb, do ya?"

The thought of King Minato ordering the same implantation process his father did on him years ago was quite unsettling.

"Now, now, slow down! Don't start thinking like that!" Shukaku was quick to say, grimacing at his vessel's thought process. "I can tell you, without a doubt, that King Minato did not order for Kurama to be put in Naruto like how your father ordered for me to be sealed into you. . . What I meant is that there's nothing there in the queen to actually be considered viable tailed beast chakra that could be used in battle.Think of it more like a residue that just clings on to the back of an object, like old blood you can't wash off of those kunai you ninjas love to use so much."

"Residue huh?" Gaara asked. "So it means nothing then?"

"Not really, my insomnia-ridden friend . . . I'm not completely certain of this, since I've yet to see it really happen before, but I believe that the only real conclusion that I could make of this is that Queen Kushina is Kurama's former jinchuriki."

"Former jinchuuriki?" Gaara asked, his eyes widening in shock before he composed himself. "How's that even fucking possible? Jinchuriki's die once their tailed beast is extracted from their body. It's a well known fact!"

"You think I don't know that?! I've had to go through the jinchuriki switch quite a number of times in my long existence with some of your predecessors, remember? I'm well aware of how unlikely a jinchuriki's survival after extraction is!"

Gaara held his tongue at that, knowing he couldn't really say anything to refute the tanuki's words whenever he got even close to personal.

"Anyway, even if it's an accepted fact, I don't think surviving an extraction is entirely impossible," Shukaku continued. "The Fire Queen is an Uzumaki, a clan where vitality is such an essential part of their being you'd think it was their kekkei genkai."

"So?"

"I think, with their enhanced vitality, it's entirely plausible that one of those redheads could survive an extraction process if they were made to be a jinchuriki . . . I wouldn't be surprised to find out that sometime around the twins' birth, something happened that led to Kurama being moved from mother to son."

"I see, and thank you for the information," Gaara conceded."But still, the staring my father did during the dinner. . . It makes me question his motives."

"Gaara, are you coming to eat or what?"

The redhead lifted his head to see Kankuro entering the dining room, not even bothering to wait for his answer, despite asking the question in the first place.

When it came to his food, Kankuro waited for no man, except for formal occasions where propriety ruled all.

"Maybe he's just jealous at the amount of firepower at the Fire Kingdom's disposal, pun entirely intended," Shukaku was quick to suggest as Gaara got up from his seat. "Or maybe he's jealous of the Fire King's personal life? Maybe it's making him rethink his current stance on a wife? More children perhaps?"

"That seems highly unlikely to me . . . He's too devoted to running the kingdom to devote any time to his personal life," Gaara thought as he walked over to the dining room, trying hard not to sound bitter. "Besides, after what happened the day I was born, why would he want another kid?"

"Hey! Don't be so down on yourself." Shukaku declared, sounding irritated. "Besides, bringing you down is supposed to be my job!"

"And you do such an admirable job at it Shukaku. . . Did I ever mention that to you before?"

"No . . ." The tanuki mumbled, the awkward pause giving way to a wave of annoyance.". . . And fuck you and your sarcasm. I'm not falling for it again!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Again, fuck you!"

A/N: Leave a comment if you like!