Gaara's Vulpix (Naruto/Pokemon crossover)

Puppet

Kankuro hated Rasa.

The sixteen-year-old hated both Rasa, not understanding how someone like his little brother, the former psychopathic monster, could ever come to love something as cute, and adorable looking as that strange, red fox-like creature with its brown eyes which hid a deep, dark evil behind them. He middle sibling never knew where his aversion to cute things came from, but alas, Kankuro also knew young males getting attached to cute, adorable things amounted to the most uncool thing a guy could ever do.

Gaara, however, never did anything normally, or in any manner which allowed others the freedom to endear themselves to the youngest of the three siblings. The preteen never minded the fact, at least until after the chunin exams, but after the fact Gaara became super aware of how people saw him, and yet still never picked up on any of the important social cues and customs which came so naturally to his older siblings.

This frustrated Kankuro to no end, making the teen ground his teeth together in frustration.

The small creature following after the auburn-haired preteen quickly drew attention, despite the efforts by the three siblings to remain unnoticed. Kankuro wondered in part if one of the reasons their appearance remained unnoticed lay with the fact the fox-like creature distracted his younger brother, who would glance back at the small creature. The men at the gate seemed quite fine with letting the creature in with them, and the so far unnamed creature followed the three to Lady Tsunade's home, where she and her assistant created the siblings.

"What is that thing?" Shizune stared at the fox-like creature, while Tsunade simply smiled at the three, unsure of how to address the appearance of the strange, an unknown creature in the midst of their village.

Gaara's head turned, his facial features looking at the creature. "I don't know. Temari said I could keep it."

"Oh, she did, did she?" Tsunade smiled at the young shinobi. "Why don't we head upstairs to discuss your living arrangements for while the three of you are here in the village?"

Temari's hands shot up. "Oh, no need. We brought money to pay for lodging, so..."

"Nonsense. I would be amiss in my duties as fifth Hokage should I not play proper host to the children of the fourth Kazekage."

Kankuro's teeth ground together, his hands reaching up to grab onto one of the straps keeping Crow attached to his back. A feeling of relief washed over the young puppet master upon realizing nobody noticed this reaction to the mention of his father, and thus the fifteen-year-old found himself able to follow after the fifth Hokage without any kind of questioning.

The five arrived in a small sitting room, and Tsunade invited them to sit. The small fox-like creature ran around the room, investigating everything, before jumping into Gaara's lap, letting the preteen gently stroke its fur. Tsunade took a deep breath. "So, Gaara, have you thought of a name for that creature?"

Gaara's head darted up, his attention drawn away from the creature. 'Rasa."

"Um..." Tsunade's blue eyes blinked a couple of times.

The brown-haired teen, however, felt everything boiling over. "Gaara! You decided to name that thing after the old man! Seriously!"

"Why not?"

The fifth Hokage stood up, walking over to the young shinobi. "Hold on. May I see?" Gaara simply stared, watching as the woman gently lifted up the creature. "Yup. This creature is definitely female, not male. Are you sure you want to name her Rasa?"

Gaara stared, confusion written all over his facial features. "Yes. Why?"

"That's a name for males Gaara, not females." Kankuro's teeth ground together, wondering how the auburn-haired preteen managed to be super smart, and yet so dense at the same times.

"Why?"

"Because..." The questions about why people did things drove the fifteen-year-old up the wall. "How should I know."

"He can name her whatever he wants to, Kankuro." Temari glared at the older of her two brothers, reminding him she gave the orders in their ragtag family.

The name still made the fifteen-year-old want to throw up. Tsunade let out a sigh. "So, about where you three will be staying."

The oldest of the three held up her hands, Temari's mouth twisting up. "We have money for our lodgings."

"Doesn't that though Suna, or yourselves? I have a room prepared for the three of you here at my residence. It will make it easier for me to get in touch with you while you're here."

The sandy-haired sibling pushed her lips together, frustrated the Hokage one-upped her. Instead of continuing to argue, Temari bowed to her, thanking the woman for the room. The three stood up to follow Tsunade to the room. Gaara lifted up Rasa into his arms, carrying the female, fox-like creature cradled in the preteens arms. The door to the room slid open, revealing a rather nice, traditional room. Kakuro let his puppet thump down, watching Gaara head over to the corner of the room, the small fox-like creature snuggling down into the preteen's lap as soon as he set sand gourd set down nearby.

The fifteen-year-old let out a sigh, sliding down beside his puppet, watching Gaara's seafoam eyes bat a few times, his hand stroking the small thing in his lap. Temari sat down nearby. "What does she feel like Gaara?"

"Soft."

"Do you like that?"

"Yes."

"It's not as if that thing will stick around." Kankuro watched Gaara's eyes widen, and his hands shot up. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean you don't deserve to have that thing stick around, but people tend to be a disappointment."

"Rasa's not a person."

Kakuro's mouth opened up to say something about their father being a monster, wishing Gaara's choice in name differed. The fifteen-year-old closed his eyes, dozing off. A soft snoring sound made his eyes snap open, Kankuro's brown eyes blinking a couple of times. Gaara's eyes were closed, the small fox-like creature still in his lap, his small hands limp at his side. His mouth open, his voice straining. "Temari..."

"Hmm?"

"Is Gaara asleep?"

"Him having insomnia doesn't mean he doesn't sleep at all. It means he struggles to sleep."

"Still, he might..."

"I'm not going to try and wake him."

Kankuro let out a sigh, standing up, pulling his puppet back on, his body moving towards the preteen slowly. His hand reached out, just in time for two brown eyes to open up, looking at him in a very evil manner. The young man gulped, watching as the fox-like creature open its mouth. The thought of the creature barking him to death amused him greatly, as this would never happen.

The embers coming from the mouth hitting his puppet made the fifteen-year-old nearly jump out of his skin as his puppets lit on fire. Kankuro let out a yelp as Gaara's eyes opened up, his hands quickly patting at the puppet to put out the fire, before finishing up by blowing on his hand. His eyes narrowed at Rasa, the fire demon, fox-like thing, while Gaara blinked at him, his seafoam green going wide. "What happened?"

"Your stupid pet tried to kill my puppets!"

Gaara lifted up the fox-like creature, holding her up so her brown eyes were next to his own, his mouth forming into a pout, something Kankuro never thought he'd ever see from the preteen. In fact, he wondered where Gaara learned to make such a face, the facial features of the fifteen-year-old flinching, a strangled sound escaping his lips. "How could she do that? She's cute."

The word cute escaped his younger brother's lips, reminding him of the fact boys weren't supposed to be in cute things. Kankuro, however, remembered why he disliked cute things. They tended, like a certain aburn-haired six-year-old six years ago, turn out to not be so cute. Temari cleared her throat. "Um, Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"You're little fox friend. She can breathe fire."

Gaara's eyes blinked a couple of times. "So?"

Yes, Kankuro hated both Rasa.

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