Sand Crossed (Naruto Fanfic)

Puppet Beetles

Shikadai pulled one knee up to his chest, and leaned forward so that he leaned into the palm of one of his hands. The story being told honestly wasn't going towards his liking, but he couldn't say anything because everyone else was so into the story. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the younger of his two uncles working away at the paperwork, and knew Gaara likely forgot that he'd embarrassed his young nephew by bringing up that particular series.

"Not that he gets why that was so embarrassing. Uncle Kankuro is so much cooler then Uncle Gaara, despite the fact he's nowhere near as strong. Still, I do love him, and I know he really does care despite all of his blunders."

"So wait? The old man got his ass kicked twice in the same day?" Kankuro leaned over on the palm of his hands laughing.

Shikadai felt his eye twitch. "Never mind. Sometimes Kankuro can be just as embarrassing and tiresome. It's either one thing or another for them. It's as if they're a married couple. Maybe the reason they're not married is because those idiots balance each other out, and if one of them should find someone, the other would get left behind."

"Man. Mom was awesome, wasn't she Gaara?"

Gaara looked up from his books again. "Shouldn't you have said that earlier? Isn't it Lady Tsunade who knocked the previous Lord Kazekage out?"

A smile spread across Shikadai's face. "All right. For all their wierdness, and how much they embarrass me, they're still a lot of fun."

"Still, Ebizo, you do realize that this is dad we're talking about. He's not like that."

"He was like that, but I think you'll understand a lot more when I get father along in the story."

"You mean there is some kind of secret going on?" Sarada leaned forward.

"A lot of secrets. That is part of what makes this so romantic." Ebizo glanced over at Gaara. "And it seems a certain someone is clueless as always." The fifth Kazekage glanced up realizing Ebizo was speaking of him. The old man laughed, and waved his hand. "Never mind me. I'll just continue the story."

...

Rasa found himself sitting on the floor trying to regain his composure while Lady Tsunade called out to someone else. "Karura, you did the damage, you get to tend to his injuries."

"Sensei, you're the one who clobbered him on the head."

The fourteen year old's eyes remained wide as he looked straight forward, and then he realized that the woman had asked the nine year old girl to treat his injuries, but more to the point he had duties he needed to attend to. "Wait. I'm an Anbu..."

"So now your underestimating the students of one of the legendary Sannin? What kind of fool are you?" Rasa looked up in time to see Tsunade place her hands onto her hips. "That blow Karura should tell you to take this more seriously."

The young Anbu's eyes blinked a couple of times as a beetle was shoved into his face. "You don't need to worry about taking me seriously. I'm not as good as nee-chan and sensei." The boy's face was close enough that Rasa noticed the boy's eyes were of a similar color to the girl. "What kind of beetle is this?"

"I honestly don't know," were the words which came to the fourteen year old's mind. Rasa felt another small hand grab a hold of his one of his biceps, and then felt himself pulled towards the cart. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar head of red hair, and felt a different kind of gut wrenching experience. "What's Sasori doing here of all places? He's supposed to remain near the Kazekage household, and not come near the entrance."

"I need to take a look to see what kind of damage has been done." Karura's voice was now calmer then it was before, and she pulled him over to the cart so his back was against the wooden contraption.

"Can't do it. If I shirk my duties the Kazekage will kill me, or he'll kill me for not doing something about Sasori being so near the entrance." Rasa moved his arms back so that he could push himself away from the cart. He felt his shirt lift up so that the skin of his abdomen was exposed to one side, and the fourteen year old felt his cheeks heat up. He turned his head to look at the girl, forgetting completely that Sasori was near by. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"My job as a medical ninja."

"Medical ninja? From what academy..."

"Rasa..." Sasori's voice came from nearby, and then another word came out giving a warning a tad to late. "Pretty..."

The young Anbu felt the five year old place a hand on the large bruise, and felt a surge of pain rush through his body. He didn't notice that the crowd began to disperse, and that the other two Anbu were busy helping the other medical ninja. Instead Rasa reacted by trying to pounce on the red haired child. "Sasori! You little..."

The quick movement caused another surge of pain to rush through his body, and he found himself doubling over. He could hear Karura's voice from nearby. "I could have told you that wasn't a good idea, Ra...sa...sa...ma."

"Why the hell does she find this situation so amusing?" Rasa clenched his fists trying to hold back his emotions, but his eyes quickly fell upon Sasori, and the young sandy haired boy approaching him.

"Hi! I'm Yashamaru!" The boy in question shoved the bug into Sasori's face. "Do you know what kind of beetle this is?"

Sasori's eyes remained wide opened, and he gave no emotional response. His hands then reached up to take the beetle from Yashamaru. "Puppet?"

Rasa's eyes blinked a couple of times, but found himself unable to speak. Yashamaru titled his head. "Puppet?"

"Puppet beetle."

"Why's it called a puppet beetle?"

Sasori held up the beetle with one small hand, and with the other his fingers reached out to grab a hold of one of the beetles legs. "The legs look like puppet joints, so..."

A sudden shudder jolted all of Rasa's body as he heard the sound of the beetle's leg being ripped off by the red haired demon.