Obvious

It was Kankuro's turn to do the dishes that night, even if he didn't want to. He stood over the sink with a tired expression, sighing to himself. He heard Gaara walk into the room, but only grunted to acknowledge his presence.

"Kankuro?" Gaara called from the doorway. He stood there with a tentative expression that even Kankuro didn't see very often. He knew better than to brush him off when he was reaching out like this, even though he was in a bad mood.

"Yeah?"

"I… What do I do if there's someone…?" Gaara paused, trying to find the right words, "Someone I really care about? In a way that's different than a friend?"

"There's someone you like?" Kankuro teased with a grin. Gaara titled his head to the side, as if thinking it over. But after a moment he looked down at the floor, "Yeah," he admitted in a low voice.

Kankuro leaned back against the counter on the palms of his hands, "Well that's easy. Just tell them."

Gaara looked up at him and narrowed his eyes, "I can't just… It's not that easy. I don't want to ruin things."

"You're making it more complicated than it needs to be, Gaara. Just tell them that you really like them and care about them… You know, just as you were explaining it to me. That would work just fine."

"Just… Is it really okay to be so straightforward like that?" Kankuro nodded in response, "But what if they take it the wrong way?"

"What 'wrong way' is there?"

"What if they… Get offended?" Gaara could feel his chest ache and he suddenly had the urge to close himself off, but Kankuro goaded him to continue to articulate his concerns, "I'm not willing to lose contact with this person. They're too important to me," Gaara explained, and saying it out loud made the fear so much more real. He felt his stomach twist with anxiety.

Kankuro could see his brother shutting down, so he stepped towards him and rested his hands on his shoulders, "Why would someone be offended? If 'this person' is really your friend, they won't feel threatened by it. And if they don't feel the same way, you can just stay friends, because I know you're not the kind of guy to push the issue and make them uncomfortable. It'll be fine, I promise," He soothed, giving Gaara's shoulders a light squeeze before letting go and returning to the dishes.

"I… Guess you're right," Gaara mumbled. He nodded slowly, gaining a little confidence, "Thank you," he said, his posture relaxing slightly.

"Of course I am. Now go tell him how you feel, I hear he's in the village."

Gaara nodded and walked towards the door, but suddenly stopped short after Kankuro's specific use of pronouns fully registered. He turned on his heels, "Wait… You…?"

"You've made it pretty obvious, Gaara," Kankuro said with a snort.