Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm of The War Drums

Temari's Secret

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Kankuro's hands were freezing in the cold weather as he held multiple bags. He was supposed to buy a few tampons- pads (whatever they called them these days) and stuff for the baby, but for some reason ended up buying ten of everything instead. He bought the pads for Temari, food for the baby, food for himself and his siblings, baby toys, a nightlight, a variety of outfits for the baby, a shirt for himself, a jacket for Gaara, and God knows how many baby shoes (they were on sale).

All of this was stuffed into several bags that he held tightly in his freezing hands. When he reached his doorstep, he looked at the door knob for a very long time. How was he supposed to open the door? If he dropped the bag, materials might be damaged. . .or something. More importantly, he would have to bend down to pick all of them again. He could try bending down and ringing the door bell with his tongue. . . then again its not like anyone will necessarily hear the door bell. . . What if someone walks by. . .Temari might be busy with the baby. . .and Gaara. . .hmm. Kankuro thought for a moment.

Aww, Fuck it.

He dropped the bags mercilessly on the floor and reached in his pockets for his keys. Feeling the small metal object, he pulled it out, inserted it into the key hole and began to turn the knob. To his surprise the door opened without him even twisting the key in the key hole. This meant that the door was unlocked the entire time. Kankuro cursed loudly in annoyance as he picked up the heavy bags and walked through the door.

"Temari, I'm back!", he yelled into the ceiling, hoping that Temari would come to help him with the bags.

He was answered with silence. Kankuro dropped the bags near the counter and turned towards the stairs. "Temari?!", he called again.

Still no answer. Panicking, he ran upstairs to Temari's room. Opening the door he yelled- "Temari?!"

"Kankuro!", yelled Temari sitting up from the bed. She had her headphones on and was painting her nails red. "Can you knock before you come in? Christ, you scared the hell out of me. . .", said Temari closing the lid on the nail polish.

Kankuro looked around the room. "Where's the baby?"

Temari sighed and said, "In Gaara's room."

"What?!", said Kankuro in disbelief.

"Gaara wouldn't give it to me.", she said defensively. Kankuro was still in shock. "You left the baby in Gaara's room?!"

"He wouldn't give it to me!", Temari nearly yelled. "I came out of the bathroom and went into his room to get it, but before I could grab the stupid thing, Gaara said he'll kill it if I go anywhere near it.", Temari put her head down in shame. "I waited by his door for a half an hour to make sure everything was alright- Nothing happened, so I went back into my room. . ."

Kankuro stared at Temari for a long time.

"Temari hates kids..she told me..."

Kankuro quickly shook Gaara's words out of his head.

"He really does hate me. . .", She said to herself quietly.

"Don't worry, Tem.", Kankuro reassured her. "I've got everything covered."

Kankuro walked out of Temari's room furiously. How could he have trusted Gaara? Especially with such a precious child. He wanted to punch the red head so hard. "Gaara!", he didn't wait for Gaara to open the door. Instead he barged in, arms, ready for whatever horror was to come.

There was none.

The child was sleeping peacefully on Gaara's bed. A dark sheet covered her waist down. She slept on her back with her arms to her side and her head tilted sideways, a small slick of drool falling from her tiny lips. Gaara stood beside the bed, looking at the baby with his normal emotionless eyes. There was no malice, no anger, no love- no nothing. Gaara's impassive face simply watched as the baby slept.

"Gaara?", Kankuro said again. Gaara looked at Kankuro.

"You're back.", he stated turning back to the child. Kankuro nodded even though Gaara couldn't see him.

"So...", Kankuro said after several moments. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine.", said Gaara. "But she'll be hungry when she wakes up." Kankuro nodded again. "Uh...yeah..I bought baby food."

"Good.", said Gaara still eyeing the child as she slept.

"Uh...Gaara?", Gaara looked at Kankuro without moving his head. Kankuro hated when he did that. Gaara would stand perfectly still and when someone called him, his eyeballs will travel ever so slowly in order to catch that persons eyes. The way his eyes looked at something was terrifying.

"Did Temari. . . come here a while a go? When I was out?", Kankuro asked finally.

"Yes.", replied Gaara.

"Did she ask for the baby?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you give it to her?"

". . ."

"Gaara- why didn't you-"

"You already know why Kankuro.", Gaara said cutting Kankuro off. Kankuro grew silent and he clenched his fists. "Temari is not a monster Gaara. - How many times to I have to tell you that?!"-

"As many times as you want.", Gaara replied quietly. Kankuro clenched his fists.

"You know what? Just forget it.", said Kankuro stepping out of the room.

"Wait.", said Gaara before Kankuro could fully retreat. Kankuro barely heard Gaara say anything, but he could see the red heads lips moving- this is why he stopped.

Gaara looked at the baby, and Kankuro followed Gaara's eyes. The baby was stirring in her sleep. It let out a small whimper before finally opening it's eyes and waking up. Kankuro slapped his forehead. He completely forgot that the baby was still in Gaara's room. Kankuro slowly walked towards it and bent down so he could be eye to eye with the child.

"You said she'd be hungry, right?", asked Kankuro suddenly, remembering that Gaara was still in the room. Kankuro recieved no answer, so he figured the red head nodded.

"Well. . .the food is downstairs.", continued Kankuro. He hesitated a bit before picking up the baby from the bed and letting it lean its head on his shoulder - like Gaara did before. The baby made a small whimpering sound before relaxing against Kankuro. Kankuro looked at Gaara for a moment before leaving the room and walking down the stairs.

He had trouble once he reached the bottom of the steps. He didn't unpack anything, and there was no baby chair he could place the child in. He frowned at the mess of bags on the table. Which bag had the baby food again? And how was he supposed to feed it in the first place? Kankuro was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize the presence behind him.

"Are you just going to stand there?" asked Temari slowly. Kankuro turned suddenly. He sighed when he saw it was only his sister. "Uh...Tem- can you help me out? Here. Hold the baby while I take out the food and stuff..."

Temari groaned. "Why don't you hold the baby, Kankuro. I'll get the food." Kankuro nodded hesitantly.

-

Feeding the baby was harder than Kankuro thought. For one thing- he didn't buy any baby spoons- so it was hard to navigate one of Temari's little tea spoons into the tiny little mouth. Not to mention that most of the food either repulsed the child or was too big for her to eat. Finally, Temari opened a packet of Gerbii Babii apple sauce which the baby enthusiastically ate. It was a messy job, and only ten percent of what was in the spoon ever went into the child's mouth- but the baby never complained.

"Hey Temari. "Said Kankuro as he put another spoon full of apple sauce into the baby's mouth. "Did you know that she's a girl?"

Temari almost dropped the Gerbii Babii jar she was holding. "You checked?!" Kankuro frowned at her sister. "Of course not. Gaara just saw a name tag on her neck."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Who puts a name tag on a baby?" Kankuro shrugged his shoulders. "It's more like a necklace than anything else. " He said slowly. "Her name's Sana."

Temari frowned. "Sana? What a stupid name."

At that moment the baby sneezed causing the mess of apple sauce in her mouth to squirt into Temari's eye.

"Gross!" she exclaimed while dropping the Gerbii Babii jar and rushing to the sink. Kankuro laughed loudly at the display. "I don't think she appreciates you calling her name stupid." Kankuro said between chuckles.

Temari glared at him with her good eye. "Yes, well it is stupid. Let's change it." Kankuro stopped laughing. "Change it? Why? It's not even ours."

Temari spun around to face Kankuro. "My point exactly! This thing has nothing to do with us! But instead of just putting her into an orphanage like you were supposed to- you decide to keep it instead!"

Kankuro was surprised at Temari's sudden outburst. "Temari-"

"And you better remember this, Kankuro- the only reason why she's here is because I let you keep her- and only for a few months! After those months past- you're sending her away- Do you hear me?!"

"Temari what the hell is your problem?!"

Temari blinked. Then she blinked again. "I'm tired." she finally. "I'm going upstairs."

Kankuro watched quietly as she marched quickly up the steps to their little house.

"...Weebllllluuuuulp." said the baby who was also watching Temari. Kankuro nodded his head absentmindedly. "Yeah...you're right."

Kankuro stood up from the chair. He saw the mess of food on the floor and sighed. "We'll leave that for me to clean tomorrow okay, baby?" Kankuro said to the child. He would have to stay on Temari's good side if he wanted to keep the thing for as long as he could, so if he changed her name maybe Temari would like her better.

"So what's a good name...?" he said to himself as he walked up the stairs.

-

Four weeks. For long weeks. Well at least to Temari. She was baby sitting again- Kankuro went into town again for groceries, and Gaara was probably in his room casting witch spells for all she cared. The baby, renamed Chuugo- courtesy of Temari herself, lay on her bed doing some sort of aerobic exercise with her feet. She didn't tell Kankuro that Chuugo was her boyfriend's brother's name and that it meant brat in whatever language Chouji's parents spoke.

It wasn't at all hard to babysit. All she had to do was put the baby on the bed and leave it there until her brother came back. There were times when Chuugo complained, whimpered, and even cried, and at those times she would either ignore it, scream at it, or leave it in front of Gaara's door. There were very few occasions when she comforted the child, but that was only when Kankuro was around.

"Temari!"

Speak of the devil. Temari turned off her television, grabbed the baby from the bed carelessly and began walking down the stairs. "Did you buy Chinese food?" she asked absentmindedly as she saw the familiar happy face bag on the table. Kankuro looked at the bag for a split second before looking at the baby in Temari's arms.

"Yeah, I b-brought chinese."

It was then that Temari noticed how fast Kankuro was breathing. "What's wrong?" she asked slowly.

"Nothing!" Kankuro said quickly. "I...I just...it's nothing." Temari narrowed her eyes. She walked up to Kankuro and stared hard into his eyes for a moment. Kankuro was a mess and he was sweating like a pig under the locks of hair on his forehead. After a few moments of staring into her little brother's eyes Temari smirked.

"I know exactly what's going on..." she said with the same smirk plastered on her face. "You ran here didn't you?" she asked happily. Kankuro put on a look of defeat and sighed. "Yeah, I ran into-"

"So you finally realize that you've gotta lose some of that weight!" Temari exclaimed. Kankuro put on a perplexed look.

"So did you finally hear what those guys say about you?" she said while walking over to the table and peeking a look into the bag of chinese food while managing Chuugo with her other hand. "I'm sorry you had to hear what they had to say, Kankuro- but you really have to lose a few pounds- you've been gaining alot lately."

Kankuro blinked." Well..." he said slowly. "...Yeah...just thought I'd...exercise before heading home." he said weakly. Temari smiled at him. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. You don't have to hide your efforts from me." said Temari. "Now hold this thing while I separate the food." she said handing Kankuro the baby.

"Did you feed her already?" asked Kankuro when he found his voice. Temari nodded her head as she separated the food. Kankuro frowned at the plate she made for him. It hardly had anything in it- a small chicken wing, a crab Rangoon and a side of rice. Gaara's plate however had a lot of everything on it. Kankuro then noticed that Temari didn't have a plate for herself.

"Hey, Tem- aren't you gonna eat?"

Temari looked at him for a split second before shaking her head. "I already ate." Kankuro nodded his head in understanding. "Are you seriously gonna give Gaara all of that to eat?" he asked. Temari shrugged her shoulders. "He's gotta eat.", was her only explanation. Kankuro sighed and sat on the table with Chuugo on his lap. "Are you gonna eat in his room again?" he asked. Temari nodded her head. "To make sure he eats." she said as she stood up straight and walked with the plate up the stairs. "Be careful!", Kankuro yelled up at her. Temari waved her her hand as a sign that he heard him.

"Guess it's just me and you again, huh Chuugo?" Temari heard her brother say before she entered Gaara's room.

-

"What are you working on over there?" Temari asked as she put another spoon full of rice in her mouth. Gaara stood in the corner of his room. Twiddling his fingers on a mess of brown strings.

"It's sick that you still keep that." Temari said with a bored tone as she scooped another spoon full of rice into her mouth. Gaara ignored her and continued to twiddle his fingers against what looked like hair.

Temari let out a belch that seemed to echo through the room and she giggled a nit. "Excuse me." she said with a smile on her face. "You sure you don't want any of this food?" she asked the red head with a smirk on her face. After she asked the question she began to cough violently on the food. The she giggled again. "Oops."

Gaara turned around to face her. "Why do you always come here?" he asked her slowly. Temari ignored the evil look in his eyes. "Because I don't have to put up a front when I'm alone with you." she said quietly in all seriousness. Gaara eyes her carefully. "You could tell Kankuro the truth." he said turning back and going to his drawer.

Temari snorted. "Yeah, right- and miss all the fun I'm having with you guys right now?" She looked sadly at the now empty plate and threw it onto the floor. "Why don't you entertain me, Gaara?" she said absentmindedly.

"Get out of my room." Said Gaara with something glistening in his hand.

Temari smirked when she saw the knife in Gaara's hand. "Gonna cut yourself?" Gaara walked over his bed and pulled out a wooden like doll. He began carving it with the knife. Temari frowned. "Don't know why you still bother with that thing." she said rolling her eyes. She stood up and walked over to Gaara. She reached for the Doll in his hands only to be pushed away by Gaara's surprisingly brute force. She smirked when he did this. "I'll scream." she said threateningly. "And we don't want an episode like before to happen again....Do we?"

Gaara glared at her. He started to hand her the doll when his long sleeve rolled down to show a large scar on his arm. Temari laughed when she saw it. "Hope I didn't cut too dee-"

"Temari!"

Temari muttered a curse under her breath. "What the hell is it?" she asked quietly to herself before heading towards the door. She turned to look at Gaara before exiting. "Later baby brother."

-

Kankuro sighed when Temari started shouting in his ear. "Chouji gave this to me!" she yelled. "How could you break it?!" Kankuro shrugged his shoulders. "It was in the way when I was reaching for the-"

"I don't care!!" Temari yelled before stomping up the stairs with a broken miniature angel statue in her hand. "How he hell am I going to explain this to him?!" Kankuro heard her shout before she slammed the door to he room shut.

Kankuro sighed shakily. Normally something like this wouldn't have happened to him, but he was just so out of it after...after what happened today. Chuugo was in his room sleeping- he put her to bed only a little while ago. He knew he should be watching the kid, but he couldn't right now.

He had to think. Hard. He took out a flyer from his pocket and stared at it with a sad look on his face. "Have you seen Sana Uchiha?" It said in enormous bold letters. There was a well developed picture of the girl on the center of the flyer, and on the bottom it said where to contact the owner and the police department. Kankuro let out a shaky sigh. This flyer meant that even the police were looking for Sana- or rather Chuugo. Kankuro rubbed a hand through his hair and sighed again. He ran home this afternoon because he could've sworn it was the owner of Chuugo who was putting up the flyer's only a block away.

He couldn't tell Temari. That would give her the perfect reason to give Chuugi away. He obviously couldn't just give the child back to that deranged man, and the orphanage was an option he would never take before his time with Chuugo was up -So he was left with a choice that he never thought he would make.

He would talk to Gaara.

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I...I updated? Woah. Sign of apocolypse. : ) R&R?- Oh and to clarify to some of my reviewers- This was never really supposed to be sandcest...so...I don't know...I guess I'll have to ask you guys what YOU want. Sandcest? No Sandcest? Tell me in your reviews- (If you review) .

Later.