It took a lot of courage for Temari to finally decide to talk with someone. Maybe that's the reason why she slammed it open and stood on the frame, more like if she was facing a battlefield than the room her brother was being forced to share with albino man. Dang, she'd forgotten about him. She wasn't going to talk shit with that guy hanging around.

'Get out of here, I want to talk to my brother.' she said, narrowing her green eyes on the man's pale face. Tall, gloomy and pale stared back evenly.

'I was ordered to stay with him at all times. I`m not-'

'Get out of here or I'll tell Shika you punched me in the stomach.'

Kimimaro stared at her. And stared. And stared. Then he went to his closet, opened it, tossed out a few clothes and walked out of the door.

'That's it, the contract said that I can break it if I'm being threatened by a psycho-murderer in affections who wants to kill me with unusual weapon. I believe you husband likes his shougi board.' And the doors closed. Kankuro looked at them in silence.

'I don't know if to laugh at this or to thank you.' he said then 'I guess I'll just keep on staring at you like if you didn't exist.' And he did just that. The older girl just rolled her eyes and walked closer, snatching the puppeteer hat off his head and sitting down next to him, using an elbow to force the taller male to make same room to sit next to him in his bed. Really odd for Temari. She was actually touching the younger boy, even if she was turning the hat around in her hands and looking decidedly discontent.

'…'

'Hey, that's mine!' Kankuro really didn't like when somebody was taking the cap off his head. He lost it once, he didn't want to go through this again. But he decided to leave it since Temari looked stressed out about something. It had to really be something strange if she came with it to him and not anyone else. Kankuro put on his grim face and asked: 'What. Spill the beans.'

Temari snorted (very unfemininely) and considered bunching it. Then decided that wouldn't be mature and put in what was left of her lap, still not looking at her younger brother.

'I`m… I don`t-' she rubbed her forehead, teeth gritting. How the hell did she explain this.

'I don't like my apples fried too.' said Kankuro helpfully and then looked straight in front of himself. 'Is there something else you want to tell me?'

'…'

Temari slumped against him. Her back did, at least, as she was still facing away from him. 'I'm not ready for this.' She said in a slow, thoughtful voice. 'I'm—I'm really… I can't do this.'

Kankuro looked at her from behind his shoulder, then got back to staring at the door.

'I don't get what are you talking about. You can do everything.'

'I can't do this. I don't know how.' she pulled the cap to her chest 'I mean, can you see me as a mother?' she asked in a bitter chuckle. She couldn't. Zabuza could probably beat her on a mother contest. A guy that carried a Final Fantasy sword around for shits and giggles and that had his teeth filled as a bet could probably do a better work than she could. Fucking his ward aside.

'How? I can barely remember mine. I don't know what mothers do. I don't think I can do things mothers are supposed to do. The more I think about it, the more I realize I'll probably end up like- like him.' What a nice day, the moment when you wake up and realize that you are set for ruining your kids life! '…and then she'll hate me.'

Kankuro looked at her for awhile in silence. Hearing something like that from his own sister... something he didn't even expect to hear from her... He blinked, then his stare hardened.

'I'm not a good role for a parent.' he said slowly 'I used to drink, I have depression, my life is not worth a glance. But I swear.' he paused, then his hands curled into fists. Then uncurled. He gulped down the thick saliva he was holding in his mouth. 'I swear.' he repeated in a less harsh tone 'That if I ever catch you messing up this kid, I'll take it and you won't ever see it again. You got that?'

Silence.

Then he breathed out all air he was holding and smiled.

'But what the hell are you talking about, you and that crazy husband of yours? I bet he is already married to both of you and you will have to really fight for affection when Kushika is born. He won't let you go wrong, he adores you both too much.' Then he ruffled her hair just as he used to ruffle Naruto's hair, even if he knew she always complained it destroyed her hairstyle. 'You will be an A plus mother, I assure you.'

The older girl stiffened at Kankuro`s words, a heavy blanket of panic settling on her at the idea of getting her child stolen, but it was the brunet's words afterwards what seemed to get the most to her.

'But-' she sniffed, telling herself her eyes were all itchy because she was allergic to Akamaru`s hair. Never mind the fact the little dog hadn't set foot in this room for months now. 'Of course he'll be great. He knows what a family is like. Just look at him, his mother probably was a supermom or something, and what about me? I didn't have a mother, I let my little brother get stolen, I dropped out of school and let you there all alone, then came back to drag you around with me-'

She slowly turned around, fixing the younger boy green eyes clouded with tears, her teeth clenched as she held onto her self control so as not to burst into tears. She hadn't come here to cry, but that didn't seem to make any difference to her stupid, hormone-ridden body. It had been easier back then, to pretend she knew what she was doing- It always made her feel stupid, looking at her past and realizing that she'd done, to herself, to her younger brothers. Stupid and young and clueless, but now it also made her feel guilty. It took realize you are about to be completely responsible for someone else's life than makes you realize how royally you messed up things in the past.

'And it's not just Gaara, it's you too. I should have taken better care of you too. And because of me—I know you didn't want to do those things. I'm sorry I forced you to do it, I really thought it would help. I'm sorry you had to take care of me.' Because if she was alive after all these years, it was because she had Kankuro. Because it was easy to be strong and reliable and ballsy when you knew you had someone you could trust, when you had someone looking out after you, someone that wasn't going to stab you in the back. They hadn't been able to trust Gaara before, and they hadn't been able to trust anyone since they found out the reason their younger brother had disappeared was because he had been sold to be experimented with.

Kankuro stiffed, then looked at his own hands. When this became an apologizing session? If he knew it would come out this way, he'd leave with Kimimaro.

'Yeah, well, uh, sure, whatever.' he murmured and shrugged, feeling uneasiness creeping up his back. It's not like he could do something about it back then 'What's happened that happened there's no possibility to undo it, so just forget it. It will be all right with the baby, Nara will show you how to do it or you can ask his mother about... stuff...' He glanced at her but quickly reverted into staring at his own hands. She was crying and he wasn't good enough with comforting. And it was too unusual.

'I don't know what to do now, either.' she said quietly. She slowly leaned against his shoulder, unhappily noticing her little brother also towered over her even when sitting. When had she gotten so small and fragile? 'I thought I could go back to target and elimination but if something happened to me…'

She'd only gotten caught once. That once she'd barely survived to tell the story. Which she'd never done. If anyone else ever learnt about it hadn't been from her, because as far as she cared it had never happened. It had been a slip and that was it, or so she'd told herself for six years. It was easy to recover from slips. Hers had taken four months and more plastic surgery than she would have cared for.

'I don't know what would happen to Shikamaru. And… I don't want her to have live like us.' She might end up a crappy mother, but at least she wanted her kid to be able to say she had one.'And I'm afraid of telling Shika because I know he wants me to quit. I know he's waiting to press me on it at some moment where he'll have advantage, but… he already convinced me of marrying him and having his spawn. I don't want to feel like if I'm doing everything just because he told me so, but I don't know what to do, either.'

'But you've already decided.' said Kankuro 'Whatever your husband has to say in that matter it's his agreement to your decision and not yours to his. Or is it that you're telling me you don't know whether you want this squirt to have a mother?' Kankuro looked at her then got up from the bed, stretching his spine slightly. 'I hope you're not.' Then he glanced at her from above his shoulder. 'Because think what a shame it would be to know that your mother is a murderer.'

Temari laid back on the bed and threw an arm over her eyes.

'I guess.' When had she stopped caring about killing someone? She usually felt nothing for her victim. There were good enough reasons to kill them and that was all. The only death she clearly remembered had shaken her had been her uncle… She hadn't intended to kill him… but she had wanted to. She'd done it just for that. A bit for her brothers, and a bit for herself, but mostly because the mere idea that such a person could have lied to them so thoroughly, that said person was living the grand life while they were hiding like rats and trying to fix something so broken there didn't seem to be any hope left… She said she'd done it because he would have given them away, and that was true. But only partially. She sighed. 'I'm really not ready for this. There's not enough time to figure things out.'

'Will lifespan be enough?' Kankuro turned around and pushed his hands into his pockets. His face was nothing but an empty mask.

'It should. It`s the only time we`ve got.'

Kankuro didn't change his face's mimic.

'Then you have your answers. Anything else?'

'Gaara wants to have babies. With Haku.'

Kankuro grimaced like if he had bitten the sour lemon.

'That was a joke in totally bad taste.' Yeah, and what else? He wanted to dance on the moon? Like if he wasn't doing a show with himself and Naruto already.

'I wasn`t joking.' she wiped at her eyes, staring at the younger boy.

'Gaara is not capable of having... kids. He is dangerous. Even if he has vagina, he will kill them once they're born. And... with Haku?' Kankuro looked at Temari again. 'Wasn't he having an affair with that big guy with sharp teeth?' That was not happening.

'Actually. He is. Will be, at least.' that's what she'd gathered from Kabuto. Once his jaw had healed enough for him to start talking again. 'And... I really don't know. Haku scared him by saying that he'll have to get tested constantly and even so, the kids might not be born… But the truth is that he could have a perfectly viable pregnancy in less than a year, if he keeps changing at the rate he has.' Not to mention the fact Naruto was changing too… slower than Gaara, and differently than him, definitely not going for a sex change… But still, changing to adapt. She had the feeling the Akatsuki had no idea what a Pandora Box they had been messing with.

'I don't think they've used it for sex yet, but it's a matter of time. Kabuto thinks that if Gaara is having a period, he will know when it's the best moment to get pregnant and unconsciously try to do it.' She frowned, trying to push herself up to a sitting position. Pregnant belly got in the way and she had to roll on her side and push herself sideway to get it right. 'What do we do if he gets pregnant?'

'I drink till I die.' Kankuro looked at her belly, then imagined Gaara. His little nice brother having a big sweet belly. With miniGaaras inside and evilNarutos also. 'Yeah. definitely till I die. What are you expecting me to do? Grab his hand and give him a walkthrough during a male pregnancy or something? It's not like I was pregnant ever before, mind you.' Then he stopped and thought for a moment. 'And that newest rob is just a pure coincidence.'

'I told you it makes you look like a fatass Satanist nun.' apparently, that had been Kankuro's cue to buy it. She absently wrapper her arms around her stomach, rubbing lightly. 'Do you really think he'd kill a baby of his own… He's so careful with Bambi…'

'Well, your newest scarf is totally unsexy too! And lemme guess, you're gonna wear it after pregnancy too.' Then he turned his back to her, apparently touched. Maybe it made him look fat but hell, was it comfy. He liked comfy. 'It's your kid. His own spawns will annoy him and he'll kill them once they make too much noise in the wrong time.'

'Do you think Naruto would let him..?'

'Do you think he will not once Gaara whines they hurt him?'

'I can`t see Naruto killing anything...' she made a face. '...not without him having gone mad before. And Naruto whines a lot more than anyone else I`ve ever met, and Gaara doesn`t seem to mind.'

'Because he l-! No, wait. That sounds totally wrong.' Kankuro slapped his face and looked at Temari with distaste 'What are YOU gonna do once he gets pregnant?'

'I don`t know.' now she made a face as if she`d tasted something sour. 'Not let Kabuto near without an uzi, probably.' Magical hands, nice smile... and she didn`t like him. Not one bit. She trusted him as a doctor, but the man was here as a chance to study mutations like Gaara and Naruto. if they had babies she wouldn`t leave them alone with the man if someone paid her for it.

'I don't know, he was pretty helpful back in the days...' Kankuro stopped. But it was then. And now was now. 'He won't be that bad, probably.'

'I don`t like him. He reminds me of a praying mantis.' Yeah, that comment made absolutely no sense, but hopefully Kankuro would get the idea. 'Do you think the Hyuugas would try anything?' Not that Neji and Hinata would. Both of them would probably tear their precious eyes before hurting anything related to Naruto, but the other ones...

'They'd want to babysit and coo at them.' Kankuro looked at Temari as if she asked him if cookies were unhealthy 'Of course they will! I bet they'd cooperate with Kabuto and try to separate the family to get some nice observations done. Kids will grow up without parents, in metal cages.'

Her hands tightened around her stomach.

'They didn`t care when we left with Gaara.' but they had known where they were, hadn't they...?

'Because what else is there to tell? They had him under observations long enough to get bored by them. And now they're showing new interesting features they'd want to investigate again.' Kankuro looked at her and noticed she was a little more stiff than before. 'Chill out or your husband will slaughter my balls for stressing you.'

'I`ll tell him it was Kimimaro.' she said, obviously not really paying attention to what they were talking about. 'I hate this place.' she muttered, her expression turning into the more familiar one of irritation. 'I`ve met nice people here, but I`m tired of feeling like a lab rat. I hate to admit it, but Neji lets us get away with a lot of things. If he happened to get replaced, we`d be screwed.'

'It's only because you're married to a good friend of his. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't let us go with many things he actually did.' Kankuro finally sat down on his bed again, feeling how it bended under his body weight. 'We can always go back to this mice hole in the middle of nowhere. We'd be alone as hell, but we won't be lab rats.'

'Can`t do, Shika wants his little princess to go to an appropriate kindergarten, appropriate preschool and the X school for gifted teenagers.' And God, she hated it there. 'And you never finished fixing the boiler.' One more cold shower and she`d kill someone. Kill.

'You forgot to add that I never knew how to repair boilers to begin with. The thing was too old to my 'go through in steps' book' said Kankuro 'And I wouldn't want to go back there too, I'd commit suicide in this silence...' Then he slowly massaged his face, smearing another paint over his face yet again. 'Where will you find a preppy school for this kid? Doesn't it mean you will get a new place to stay or something? We can't send them off from this base.'

'I don't know. Shika must have something going on in that lazy, genius head of his, and he won't tell me because it'll `stress me`.' She babied the last words, pouting in what she considered righteous anger. Shikamaru had actually made a list. A list of all the things that were stressful and she was absolutely not to do. Like straighten up the bed a bit in the morning. Or watch 'drawn together' because she found it hilarious and too much laughing could cause spontaneous abortions. Just like standing too close to people that spontaneously bellowed about the springtime of youth. Or putting on her own socks (though she had to admit the last one was actually useful, considering she hadn't been able to see her own feet without some hardcore stretching and gymnastics included.) Any moment now, he'd start wanting to regurgitate processed food into her mouth so she wouldn't have to `stress` over chewing it.

'Kankuro, never get pregnant. You stop belonging to yourself and become baby container for nine months, then `someone's mother`'. Oh, God. She had stopped being a woman. The moment the baby was out, she was going to be her mother. Till the day she died. With a shaky moan, she slumped against her younger brother's back. '…either way, I'm not leaving without you two.'

Kankuro leaned forward with a slight 'oomph' as two heavy bodies in one bumped against him, but he held her up, as a gentleman he was (never tell a woman she weights too much, that was a harsh lesson he learned once and... he didn't even want to remind himself how it went).

'Never would dream of it.' he said calmly, trying to cope with the mood swing he was just getting. Yeah, that was what was missing. Him being pregnant. Three siblings being pregnant... he was left out even of this circle of adoration even now. Even if the idea repulsed him. Since always women were round, cushy and pregnant. And now his brother wanted to have a baby, his sister had a baby and...

'I have nowhere else to go anyway.' he murmured, then looked at the wall in front of him. Jesus, why did Inuzuka had to scrap those doodles there? The paint was something Neji never wanted to give away as he ominously believed it was a waste of money. 'I bet he is hiding it in his room and eating when no one's watching.' he thought grimly 'Maybe that's why all Hyuuga's have those white eyes. The Coral Paint.''

'Pfff.' Temari snorted in her usual, unladylike fashion. 'You kidding? You could go to New York and be artistic. You would probably make a fortune if you sold those puppets you make.'

Temari wasn't being complimentary. She wasn't complimentary at all on a daily basis, and had no reason to start now. She wasn't in the busyness either, but even her untrained eye could tell what her brother spent painstakingly doing for months on end wasn't the kind of thing you sold at five bucks the piece on a bus station. How did someone with such big hands make all those tiny, complex mechanism and intricate patterns, she would never know.

'And to top that they are, what's the words you use… rare? Vintage?' Almost no one made puppets by hand nowadays. Even rarer were the ones with the level of work his hand. Pure masochism, in Temari's opinion.

'You can go and sell them if you want, I bet Kushika will need a lot of money.' he said carelessly 'Only leave Karasu out of this.' Maybe they were rare as he could never spot anyone doing puppets by hands anymore (beside old gramps here and there) but his own never satisfied him and he always found them useless after that. What was the point of having a theatre when everybody were too busy to look at the act? Not that he was good in acting anyway. It only helped his hands when he was starting to itch for sharp things. Hurting wood instead of hurting himself was somehow more relieving. And Karasu? It was a first puppet he made. Sentimentality things.

'Never. Those things would probably come back, just for my soul.' Maybe that's why she had never really been able to appreciate much of what her brother did… Puppets scared her. She could tell that Kankuro's were definitely beautiful and complicated things. But they still were puppets, they still moved weirdly and they still freaked her out. The idea was tempting, though. Maybe she should discuss it with Shikamaru… aaand there she went again. Why did she have to talk everything with him? Why should she want to do it? Since when did she need someone's opinion, besides her own?

'…love sucks.' she concluded wisely. 'Makes you do weird things and act like an idiot.' she would never, ever have consciously agreed to get pregnant at this point in her life for anyone else.

'They're just dolls. Wood and paint patched over it...' Great. And now he was being thought of as a maker of voodoo dolls. Maybe he really should've think about getting better hobby. He sighed, wondering what he could do. Make up? No. He tried that already and nobody appreciated his masks. Clothes? He couldn't really sew anything that was not a piece of rags on the wooden doll... 'Am I of use in anything at all?' he thought, listening only halfheartedly to what his sister had to tell him. Love. Bah. Sinnister's dream.

'That's why I'm not trying to get into this weird stuff.' he said out loud. Kiba probably wanted him to, as he acted very openly about his intentions. But when he looked at Mr. Genius and Mrs. His-Sister he wondered what he did in previous life to deserve such maniac. His sister's life was kind of like out of the movie. A little of Lion King, bits of Tomb Raider and Beauty and the Beast at the end. Or more like Tomboy and the Lazy. Shreks. And when the baby will be out it will probably turn into some Family Guy happy&romantic version and without all those strange gags and literal jokes.

Like a movie. And Gaara was not better. Taken away, unknown for the most, wild at the end, loved by his own species when there were only like ten of those in the world. And even if they were both males, giving birth to a baby was also possible. Talk about luck and great amounts of those. Compared to them he was... 'Nonexistent.'

'Yeah, love sucks for such a lazy ass for a husband and hungry monster in your stomach.' he said, then chuckled. 'I don't envy you, it must be living hell to go through all those 'non stresses' done by Nara. But at least you know he cares.' He straightened, then snapped his knuckles, one by one, stretching his back. 'It's only a few weeks.'

Temari straightened as well, leaning as she was on his back, and stared quizzically.

'And you think I never liked any doll I was given because of a personal vendetta against all things feminine?' Understatement of the century. Temari's favorite color was purplish pink. Pinkish purple. Pink, at any rate. She had more skirts than pants in her wardrobe and loved to wear them (she didn't need Shikamaru to nip her tights to know she had great legs… appreciated, sure, but not needed.) And she had a freaking purple and hot pink butterfly on her shoulder blade. There wasn't any more girlish design on earth on earth. She just found dolls in general ungodly creepy.

'I know… I was really lucky. I don't know why, but I do… love Shikamaru. And he's lazy and whiny, but I think he loves me too.' She stroked her stomach absently, feeling a faint kick from the she-monster inside. Only a couple weeks more… 'It`s not easy, though. Sometimes I look at myself and all I want to do is pack everything and get the hell out of here. How can I trust so much someone that isn't-' she made a face, trying to decide what she wanted to say, because the first answer to finish that sentence was somehow wrong. She came out empty, and so her answer was voiced. '…you.'

Kankuro snorted, looking at his own hands. They were big and fractured, wearing memories of what he (what they) went through to get here and what was after that.

'Please, don't talk nonsense.' he said tiredly, smearing the paint completely off his face 'If anyone, Nara is the most trustworthy human here, don't throw him away only because you want to get the hell out of here for some obstacles that happen.' Wasn't she ridiculous. For the things she was saying, those were the most laughable from them all. So far.

'Yeah, but why is he so trustworthy? How do we know we can trust him? How do I know that? He wasn't there when we were kids.' He wasn't in that hellish house with a family that was so broken and misshapen that it seemed they were striving for it. 'He wasn't there—after. Either. When everything went down.'

When things got so bad, so goddamn creepy she had to leave the house or risk going mad from it, like her father apparently had. Or after, when she tried to get back and realized things had only gotten worse. Maybe that's why she had wanted to find Gaara so badly… Maybe she had thought that things would go back to normal if everyone got back to the place they were supposed to be in. And could she have trust Shikamaru to help her the way Kankuro had? Could she had trusted anyone?

'You were. You were the only one.' The only one that had stayed by her no matter how crazy, how dangerous things had gotten. The reason why she wasn't dead, while she was at it. Impulsively, she took his hand, ignoring the sticky make up.

'He wasn't but he will be now. For longer than forever or I will be the one to teach him things about life.' He squeezed the hand in his own palm and tiredly, got out one of his paper handkerchiefs and started cleaning the femalish fingers. Men and women really were different and it could be visible by simple comparison of hands. It felt strange to hold it again, like if she was the little baby and he was even smaller, but tried to play the big brother like always. Men's pride.

'Does that mean I'll get free dinner on Sundays for the rest of my life?' he said, chuckling 'Such debt is so hard to pay... not that I would want you to pay anything to me. I was in the same situation as you, Temari, don't forget that. We both didn't have any choice. Who knows, maybe if I had...' He stopped for a moment, thinking. Yeah. He wasn't as good as he looked like. '...maybe if I had, I would run away.'

'You really trust my cooking that much? I wouldn't mind living from Yoshino`s leftovers the rest of my life.' Bitching aside and the fact Shikamaru looked so goddamn happy that she and her mother were already daring back hackles and raising nails, that dinner had been the best food she'd had in an estranged number of years. 'I think anyone would.' herself included. 'But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.'

'Same to you, Temari. Same to you.' Because really, what else was he supposed to say? Not that it wasn't true, because it was. Just that he felt he was missing something here. His sister was admiring him like she never did - either she was having mood swings or ate too much of those mushrooms when Shikamaru wasn't looking and he completely couldn't see what for. He was there, all right. he helped her, because he was her brother, and dammit, he loved her, as much as he could as a brother. Anyone would do the same in his place. It sounded kinda funny to hear that though. But he decided not to laugh at this. Temari sounded too serious. 'I don't think it's that bad. I wouldn't mind something sweet done from you from time to time... just use the right portions.'

'It`s not my fault they aren't more specific with them!' Really- pinch of salt? What the fuck was a pinch of salt? The kind of pinches she used on Shikamaru`s neck when he did something annoying? Or when Naruto did something particularly adorable and she pinched his cheek and pulled while restraining the urge to cuddle him like a puppy? Specifics, damn it. 'Fine. I`ll try something when I don't have a watermelon from hell strapped to my waist and trying to weight me down.'

'Yeah, sure. I can wait a few weeks, all right.' To tell the truth, it was a little relieving he had to wait those weeks. Temari's cooking really wasn't all that edible and he really wanted to live a little longer. Or rather - live for the small rest of his life in quite good health. Other than that, he didn't have objections. He let go of her hand and smiled. It was true that women in pregnancy were more beautiful. Her nails were good for problems she had with them nonstop. The baby was obviously doing her good, despite her and her husband complaining about it (well, Shikamaru was more like complaining 'why isn't it there yet', but still). 'Just don't feed your kid with your cookies until you learn how much is 'a few' and 'a pinch', okay?'

'It's not my fault cooking books aren't more specific.' She could follow recipes that came with an accurate set of instructions. Which amounted to three, to date. And they were good, even if they couldn't compare with Yoshino`s cooking. 'As for Gaara getting pregnant… I guess we better worry for that when it happens. Er, if… who am I kidding, it's gonna happen. They go at it like bunnies, as it is.'

At least It did wonders for improving Gaara's mood, besides creating ovaries out of thin air. Kankuro only went stiff for mere moment. But there was no point in lying to himself. It will happen.

'I just... would want to avoid seeing it once it happens.' he muttered, fiddling with his fingers. 'It's not healthy to see something like that.'

'Well, just look at the bright side. When the great God Chtulu rises and starts its campaign to rule the world, we`ll already be mad enough to speak Lovecraftian.'

'I don't want to.' Kankuro grimaced at the image. He wasn't really a fan of such solutions. 'Do you think I could hide in my room for nine months in a row to not see it?'

His sister gave him a complex look.

'Maybe getting away from us a bit would do you some good...' She knew they had their issues... and obviously being with them wasn't helping Kankuro`s own much. 'Do you want to have a transfer for some while...? I could talk to Neji.'

'Yes, sure, why not.' Really, why not? He'd be left alone at last. no panting redheads getting it on with blond puppies, no bitchy Hyuuga over him or pregnant sister near him, just as her overprotective husband. Everyone would be damn away and he'd have possibility to sit in dark corner and sniff the wall. He'd always wanted to be ridden of anyway. 'With pleasure.'

The blonde woman narrowed her eyes at him angrily.

'Kankuro, don't try to be dramatic with me, it doesn't work. I'm asking you because I want you to get better, not act like if I'm sending you to the Bermudas triangle.' Her hands wrapped around her stomach and she started to pet it in her distress, walking to a corner of the room and looking at the several CD`s lying around without really recognizing more than two of the bands. 'I'm not good at guessing. So please tell me what do you need to feel better so I can give it to you.'

And if Kankuro knew her and how close she was to his precious tapes on Kabuki theater, he`d be smart enough not to be a smartass and say 'alcohol'. Kankuro looked at her tiredly, then sat back at the table, watching her with dull glare. She really was a fine woman, but the pregnancy made her more itchy than anything else. Though beauty still stayed. Though he wondered why the heck she had to stand close to his tapes from theatre she always avoided. Probably a warning or something.

'What do you want from me, eh?' he asked, drumming his fingers off the table. They gave a null, deafened sound 'I agreed to your proposition as it's okay. I want to be left alone and it sounds just as good. So send me off wherever it is, I'll be damn happy.' She'd better not touch those tapes or he'd be mad.

'I want you to tell me what's going on so I can try to fix it!' She turned around and walked back at him, staring down at his slumped figured, but that felt wrong somehow. She moved down so she was kneeling in the floor in front of him, staring up.

'Look, I'm not good with these things, none of us ever were, but you are the only family I have left. You and Gaara, and I want you both to be okay. So please, just…' She reached up with a hand, meaning to brush some of the smeared purple paint off his cheek, then let her hand drop in a helpless gesture, her expression going from angry to saddened. '…please, don't push me away. I want to help you.'

'You want to help me, yeah, all right.' he said, then closed his eyes, turning his face so he was facing the possible sky up above the tons of steel. It felt somewhat annoying that he had to see her in such uncomfortable position just near his knees. What would Nara boy say at this? Probably nothing nice. 'I'm not pushing anyone away, I don't understand what you're all about. Just go have fun in your happy world, it seems you're starting on getting strange ideas here.'

Oh, how emotional, how romantic. It almost felt too sad for him to hear something like that. He winced at the tone, but slowly stopped the facing off and looked at her with bleary eyes.

'What now?'

Temari was about to start crying again, internally hating the damned mood swings and the stupid hormones, but not able to do anything about it. She felt so helpless, and there wasn't anything to punch or kill, which would be things she would be able to do, things that were easily solvable for her. All she knew was that her brother was miserable and she didn't know what to do fix it.

'We always helped each other before. Why won't you let me do that now?'

He looked at her, not changing his pose, though the thin line of worry could be visible between his brows. It seemed she was about to cry, which was no good when it came to her condition. He sighed internally and smiled a little, trying to look reassuring.

'My lovely big sis.' he started, adding the laughable tone to his voice 'I don't need anyone's help. I'm not in bad shape or anything, I'm just a little tired. Now please, go to your room and lie down, it seems that your state is draining you out.'

No, really, what kind of help she could provide? He didn't need much but he'd be damned if he disturbed her now. Besides, she had her own world, she couldn't just sit with him here like that and worry about his problems.

'I just need to sleep it off and so do you.'

'You've been sleeping it off for months now!' she exploded, now clutching at her distended stomach as if she wanted to protect the baby from the harshness of her words. Which probably was a good idea, considering how sensitive to loud noise the growing watermelon was getting. 'You've done nothing for yourself, and all I see you do is just slump away and see the day pass by and never do anything for yourself or anyone- what the hell is wrong with you? Is it something I did? Why are you acting like this?'

'Wha-? Oh, no, wait, no- Shikamaru will kill, me... damn.' He looked at her, his expression from startled changing into sour and full of grief. Great. If she came out like that, he'd be dead. Bah, he was dead already, her tears were a sabotage to everyone who dared to make her cry and anger the Nara up, He really didn't want to get her to state like that. Not when they all finally could laugh a little.

'It's not anyone's fault!' he hissed, then got up from chair and kneeled down in front of her and clutching her shoulders 'Damn this condition, this is not important you stupid woman. You have to calm down. You did nothing wrong and stop asking those questions, you're making it worse for yourself only. I have nothing to tell to anyone and I can't give you what you're asking me, so... stop crying. I can't help being hopeless like that.' And even now he could do little than less, because the right words were just passing him by and he didn't know what to say. Women were so difficult to understand sometimes.

'It's gotta be someone's fault, you didn't get like this ever before!' she cried, now doing it openly. It a bizarre way it felt nice to not have to hold all this helplessness and anger inside like she usually did, and like hormones made very impossibly to do, but she definitely didn't want to make an habit out of losing her cool like that. 'Can't you at least trust on us once before being hopeless?'

'What...' Brunet glued his jaws once more, looking at her with something akin to pure question marks in his eyes 'What the heck are you talking about? Temari, you're not thinking straight. Calm down.' With those words he threw out any kind of hesitation he might have felt and just hugged her to his chest as there was no other man in the room to do that. Hopefully, everyone will understand that he, as a brother, had no ill manners by doing that. 'Trust has nothing to do with anything.'

Well, he wasn't like that before. But people changed. And he was human. She leaned against him, one hand reaching to clutch a sleeve as the other remained on top of her stomach.

'You say we can't help you, but you never told us how!' He was probably right and she was very likely throwing things out of proportion and overreacting horribly, but she couldn't help feeling like if she had failed at whatever she was supposed to do as an older sister and as a person. She had gotten Gaara, Gaara to turn to her for help but now her other brother, who should at least know what she was capable of, apparently saw something untrustworthy on her. 'How do you know we can't help you, you didn't even let me try!'

'Temari... that's just not that easy. Please, you can't repair everything.' Man, was she stubborn. Yes, he could be proud of her at this side, she was surely their father's child. But really, if she wanted to help him, she couldn't just give it to him. He wouldn't want it that way as it would be fake and worthless. If you didn't gain it, you didn't have it. Life was like that and nobody asked for other ways. He hoped he could at least not make her worry him in addition though. If she kept on crying like that it really could affect her pregnancy. 'I will be all right, somehow. But if you will keep on that face, your baby won't. Please. You can't be bothered by such a downside man like me.'

'Of course I worry about you, idiot, I'm your sister!' Really, was that so hard to grasp? It wasn't about any of them being older or younger, it was about family. And considering how bad theirs had turned it made sense to want to keep the good ones close and safe and happy. 'I don't want you to be like this...'

'I tell you, I will be all right.' he dared to stroke her hair, still made into those funny, girlish pigtails as he let her lay on him and rest. It's really been some time since she did that. Big girls don't need anyone to hug them after all. Unless they were princes charming. 'Don't worry about me, this won't help you or me. I ask you for this as your brother.'

After a few moments like this Temari pushed him away, rubbing at her eyes with a fist and sniffing, as if she could make them both forget what had just happened.

'Then fix yourself, because I won't stop worrying.' She ordered 'And then it will affect your nice and Shikamaru will eat your heart straight out of ribcage or something even more disturbing.'

Kankuro chuckled a little. Right. Of course he will.

'Sure, sure, I wouldn't dare to affect my little niece like that. And how could I mess with a king and his queen, oh, my.' He bowed in a mock of a real bow and smiled at her. He couldn't help, but find her proud behavior girly and cute at all odds it made. 'Don't worry, princess, my heart is my treasure so I shall protect it.' As much as it was possible. At least he hoped he wouldn't have to. It didn't seem very valuable on second thought. The older girl just stared at him with that kind of stare older sisters seemed to have perfected solely for the sake of making younger brothers aware of how stupid they were being. He sighed, slowly removing the smile from his face. It seemed that even his ability to make his sister smile a little has vanished into nothing along with the youth and all these things.

'I will be taking a walk around the kitchen if you need me.' he said and got up from the floor. 'As I said... transfer me, if you feel like it might do any good, I'm not against it.'

'Wait.'

He turned around, looking at her, not really sure about what she might've needed from him.

'Yes?'

The blonde lifted both arms, an angry flush taking on her features.

'I… can't get up on my own anymore.'

He looked at her with astonished, stunned for a moment. Then slowly, but gradually a faint snicker could be heard, until it changed into a loud laughter. But even like that, he got closer to her, and instead of helping her, he scooped her up like the most real prince charming in the entire universe, which meant bridal style. But his words were much less than charming.

'Man, someone got fat here.' he taunted as he carried her 'I will better carry you like that to your room or you might trip and end up sitting in some dark corner for the rest of the day. And man, would that be, how to say it... oh, I know! Troublesome.'

'You have no right to tell me that, I'm pregnant, what is your excuse!' she grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled at it, not really as hard as she could do it, but not gently either. How did a Satanist nun wannabe dare to call her fat? 'I'd like to see you try to get up with a three pound melon strapped to your stomach! A moving melon! That kicks your kidneys and sit son your bladder!'

'Ow, ow, owie! Let go or I really might leave you alone sitting in the dark corner with that melon of yours!' Not that he'd really dare to, consequences would be crucial to him. Especially if her overprotective husband of hers would get to know about this. But he could taunt, couldn't he? 'Dear sister, I dare to remind you that men don't get pregnant.' He stopped for a moment, then grimaced. '...at least normal men don't. So I can't really know how it is like when a moving ufo kicks you in the stomach and so on. But my excuse is that I'm a brother of pregnant and have full rights to laugh.'

And to add to that, he chuckled a bit, even if his roots of hair still hurt him a little.

'I wish ovaries onto you! Ovaries and a womb and a date rape and nine months of hell!' Well, it hadn't been that bad. She'd had very little morning sickness and if one ignored hormones going crazy and a sudden obsession with the consumptions of strawberries and not being able to get up on your own for three months now and not having sex because she was too round and apparently it could induce pregnancy, it hadn't been that bad. She stroked her stomach like one would do a good pet. Good Bambi, yes. Mommy was very happy with her little doe.

'Thank you, then I could impregnate myself.' The brunet didn't really mind those outbursts as he was taught that pregnant women were rather violent and tended to have big problems on small matters. Though the jokes on pregnancy with Gaara around seemed to be a little distasteful, he could sacrifice himself and spit one or two. If that made Temari happy, then why not. 'And now as you wished me a mini-me, can you walk to the room on your own now? I think my backbone is starting to betray me.'

'No one asked you to carry me!' But being pampered around wasn't that bad… once or twice. It was nice getting it from younger siblings instead of overbearing husbands, though, and speaking of husbands… 'Yeah, I can go on my own, put me down.'

Once back on her feet, she turned to stare at the taller male, again noticing the fact he was a good had taller, not to mention broader than her, and wondered when the hell had that happened.

'…I`m no good at this.' Reaching up, she patted the top of his head lightly 'You are a good kid.' she said, in her most maternal tone. 'Whatever's dragging you down, you can fix it in your own. But if you can't, I'm still your sister, and I want to help you. Okay?'

Kankuro had only smiled in response. His sister was indeed, sweet as pie, only covered in bitter crumbs for camouflage.

'Of course.' He muttered and turned back to his room. The remaining night, he spent on listening to Moonlight's Sonata. He felt at peace.