Hopefully this will be a collection of oneshots, right now…not so much. I decided to have a (slightly) funny first one, but they'll be all genres.

Disclaimer: These are getting old. Naruto's not mine, it never has been, and it never will be. And other randomness that you recognize - if it's recognizable, it is not mine.

1; Kankurou's Advice

It had been a month since Akatsuki had been driven from Sunagakure, and a month since Gaara had dared to kiss Kimiko. Now they seemed to be stuck in a rut - if they had ever moved forward at all.

But she was moving forward. She was letting go of her iron grip on her feelings. She smiled a lot more, laughed, cried, got angry, got embarrassed. She was moving forward. What if she felt differently about him now? What if she regretted that kiss, that night?

After that fateful night, all of Suna had risen up to defend their village, and still both the Kazekage and many of his jounin, including Kimiko, had ended up unconscious in the hospital. There wasn't really much time to discuss the sudden act of emotion that had happened. And Gaara recovered first, so he was thrown headfirst into the accumulation of paperwork, etc. and had no time to talk when Kimiko was released from the hospital.

Now, when he called her for missions, there was awkward embarrassment as they tiptoed around the elephant in the room. This did not go unnoticed by Temari or Kankurou. They knew their little brother, and they knew this was beyond freaky behaviour for him.

After a short conversation, Temari convinced Kankurou to help Gaara with his girl problem. Unfortunately, she forgot to tell him what to say, and the middle Sand Sibling came up with some ideas of his own. As anyone who understood the way Kankurou's brain worked, Temari immediately started to panic. But it was too late. He had already emerged from the Kazekage's office, looking smug.

She peeked past the door, and saw Gaara with a puzzled, disturbed look on his face. Oh, great, she thought.

…

Eleven o'clock. Would she still be up? Gaara watched the clouds slide past the moon and reflected on what Kankurou had advised him to do.

"Listen up, little bro," Kankurou said as he entered the office. "Temari and I have noticed the way you act when a certain someone is around, and we gotta tell you. It's obvious you like her. Does she know?"

His brother was the last person Gaara wanted to talk to about his relationship with Kimiko…well, not really, since he was the only person Gaara ever talked to about semi-personal things.

"We've kissed once," he said uncomfortably. His brother nodded, impressed.

"Geez, you move fast, huh?" He laughed, then took a serious expression. "But you gotta take it to the next level, or you'll be floating in that awkward stage you're in now forever. So here's what you NEED to do…"

Gaara had a feeling he was going to regret this. He walked, unsure, up to the apartment building where he knew Kimiko lived. Kankurou had said to throw a rock at her window. Looking around, he saw a decorative boulder in someone's veranda garden. Using his sand, he lifted it to the height of her window, and heaved it.

CRASH

"Oops."

"Girls love the romantic crap. Roses, chocolate, and most of all, a moonlight serenade." Gaara could barely believe his ears. He was supposed to… "A poem. A song. Do both, if you want. Knock her off her feet, little bro."

Kankurou winked and walked out. Gaara resisted the urge to slap himself and shake these disturbing thoughts from his head. Was this what he really needed to do?

"Gaara-sama? What are you doing here?" Damn, she was already at the window. He should apologize for breaking her window. No! He was supposed to read a poem…But he hadn't brought one.

"Umm…" Crap. He frantically probed his memories. "Er, Rapunzel, Rapunzel…" He stopped and again resisted the urge to slap himself. A song! That was the way. He didn't know any of those either. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star…How I wonder…"

He risked a glance at her. Her face was twisted in confusion and worry, laughter sparkling in her eyes. He cleared his throat and tried not to notice he was blushing. She hid her smile behind one hand.

"Gaara, it's late. We can talk tomorrow," she said softly, still grinning. She thought he was an idiot. Great. He had no chance now. But she was basically telling him to get lost, so he left.

…

The next morning, Gaara stood on a balcony outside his bedroom. He didn't know what to do. Why had he listened to Kankurou? This time, he conceded to slap himself, the sand blocking his way.

"That's new, too," a familiar voice commented. Gaara looked up. Kimiko was sitting on the roof, smiling. He'd forgotten she was so silent when she moved. "You've been a bundle of surprises lately."

Not blushing, not blushing. Never.

"I'm sorry about your window," he muttered, staring at a spot over her left shoulder. She hopped down to his level. "I'm sorry about everything I did last night."

"Why?" she laughed. "It made me smile. It was kind of…" Stupid? Disturbing? Weird? Nauseating? Embarrassing? "…kawai." Did he hear right? She thought he was cute?

"We should eat out sometime," she continued, giving him a small peck on the cheek before disappearing as swiftly and silently as she'd arrived.

And a tentative smile broke across the stony expression held by the young Kazekage. He touched his cheek, hardly believing what had happened. She wanted to eat sometime. She was still interested.

…Ah, Kankurou was wise, wise beyond his years. Well, this Kazekage knew who was getting that week of break he'd been asking for.