Breaking Through to My Heart

Chapter 32: Brotherly Advice & Katana

[Gaara – Five Days Later]

Normally I would be out and about already but I needed to talk to my brother. He wasn't awake yet. I'd been sitting outside his bedroom door for an hour now and finally decided I didn't want to wait anymore.

I quietly used my sand to unlock the door and when it clicked I opened it until I could just barely peek in at Kankurō. He was lying on his stomach, his blanket half on and half off him, his hair sticking up everywhere. I could hear his soft snores. I smiled; I hadn't snuck into my brother's room since I was nine or ten.

Pushing the door the rest of the way open I made my way across the bedroom. There wasn't much on the floor to block my path, but I did have to step around his uniform. It looked like he'd stripped it off and tossed it without care as he flopped down to go to sleep. When I was finally at his bed I lowered myself to squat on my heels.

Kankurō had always been there for me when I was younger, along with Temari. They hadn't hated me like everyone else had. So I adored him; to me he was the best brother anyone could have. I slowly reached out and poked his nose. "Kan... Kan..."

Kankurō's light snores stopped and one of his eyes opened, focusing on me. "Gaara..." His other eye, slightly squished against the hand he had tucked against his face, opened. His brows furrowed. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded and allowed myself to plop back onto the floor. "Nothing is wrong."

His one unsquished eye blinked at me. "Did you need something then?"

I was suddenly embarrassed to talk. I stared down at my legs and pushed my finger around on the wooden floor. "I just... needed your help with something."

The bed groaned as Kankurō shifted onto his side so that he could look at me all the way, his head now completely propped up with his right arm. "You hardly ever ask me for help."

"I just..." I didn't know where to start. I sighed and looked up at him. "You've dated girls before, haven't you? Back home?"

Kankuro arched one of his furrowed brows, the movement almost comical to watch. "A few, yah."

"How... how did you act around them?"

Kankurō stared at me for the longest time, almost to the point of asking him the question again. "I dunno. I guess I just acted like myself... except a little more relaxed."

"Do you think I should relax a little more?"

"Well..." He thought about it. "You are the Kazekage, so you still have to put on appearances for the people around you... but when it's just you and her, sure, I'd say you need to relax a little."