Scattered Puzzle Pieces (Naruto Fanfic)

Touching Fingers

 Something was wrong.

The tiny thing simply stared at the ceiling, the pair of sea foam green eyes looking at nothing. A sickening feeling hit the pit of Rasa's stomach, his dark brown eyes staring at the infant held in his wife's delicate arms. The auburn haired man found himself unable to process his thoughts, and somehow managed to drift back to his home office, his calloused fingers picking up the pen so he could get back to work.

"You need to talk to Karura about this." Rasa bit down lightly on the tip of his tongue, the thoughts rattling in his head having not dissipated after a few days. His calloused fingers tightened around the pen, his lips tightening as his auburn locks hung down in front of his eyes. "Something is wrong. Something is wrong, and I don't know what to do." The door to the office clicked open, and Rasa allowed his tense shoulders to relax slightly, his auburn head of hair turning to see who it was. One corner of his mouth twisted up upon seeing Kankuro. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing usually means something, but what harm can a two year old get into." Rasa turned back to the paperwork on his desk, hoping to get the work done in time for the meeting tomorrow at the office, and absentmindedly his hand reached down to ruffle Kankuro's as the toddler opened up the bottom drawer, but finally the sounds of items rattling around made the auburn haired man to glance down at the brown locks of hair just in time for Kankuro to hold up his treasure. "What have you got there Kankuro?"

A big grin spread across the toddler's face, and one chubby finger pointed at the stamps. "Stickers!"

"Those aren't stickers. They're for mailing things. Do you have something to mail Kankuro?"

"Yes! Yes!" The toddler hurried off, his teeth a bright white contrast against the dark locks hanging down in front of the boy's eyes, indicating it was time for a haircut. One of Kankuro's small feet stepped in front of the foot which would move next, and the toddler quickly fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"I need to get those from him." Rasa fought the temptation to chuckle at Kankuro's antics knowing full well this would only encourage the small boy's antics. "Hold on." The auburn haired man began to push himself up from the desk, his movements frozen when the phone began to ring, his brown eyes drifting down to the phone on the desk. A sigh escaped Rasa's mouth, and rather begrudgingly he sat back down. "Baki, is there something important going on at the office?"

A guilty pang rushed through Rasa's stomach upon realizing he hoped Baki would give him an excuse to get out of there, but instead the auburn haired man's jaw set tightly as Baki began to ask questions of how Karura and the new baby were doing, and the older man found his mouth twisting down knowing full well that Yashamaru had put Baki up to calling. Rasa's teeth ground together, wishing for some way to escape, when a tug drew his eyes downward.

Temari stood beside him, her indigo colored eyes filled with tears. "Daddy..."

"What is it sweetie?"

"Baby..."

"Can't your mother handle it?"

"Sleep."

Rasa's calloused hand ruffled Temari's sandy locks of hair, remembering once a long time ago telling his daughter to come and get him if her mother was taking a nap. "Alright, what is the matter then."

"Baby... Kankuro..."

The auburn haired man felt his facial features flinch, the tension growing as the fear grew in the pit of his stomach. Rasa stood up letting the chair clatter to the ground, the phone still attached to his ear. "Kankuro did something to the baby?" Baki's voice could still be heard on the other line, and Rasa could hear the panic in the other man's voice, but the auburn haired man still let the phone drop to the desk with a thud from his calloused fingers.

Temari's fingers intwined with his calloused ones, and he headed into the bedroom where Karura leaned up against the foot of the bed, her head tilted down indicating the sandy haired woman's exhaustion got the better of her. Beside her Kankuro licked a stamp, the two year old's grimy finger's pressing the sticky squares to the baby. Rasa felt his voice tighten, and quickly he scooped Gaara up into his arms, the auburn haired man not realizing he held his youngest for the first time.

"What..." Rasa stopped speaking, his dark eyes taking in Karura's stirring figure. The auburn haired man lowered his voice. "Kankuro, what were you doing?"

The two year old looked up at him with the biggest, and most innocent brown eyes the man had ever seen, and the brown haired toddler's smile spread wide as his small chubby hands lifted up into the air. "Baby go bye-bye!"

An arm tightened slightly in a protective manner as Rasa stared down at the oldest of his son's in disbelief, and Temari tugged at her father's sleeve again. "I don't want baby to go bye-bye."

"Baby is absolutely not going bye-bye." The man headed into the kitchen, Rasa's brown eyes looking the utter look of disappointment written all over Kankuro's face. Temari sniffled next to him, still hanging onto the auburn haired man's clothing, her fists tight, and her face leaving tear stains on his pants leg. Setting Gaara down onto the kitchen counter, Rasa felt his mouth twist down into a frown as the infant's facial feature's crinkled up in discomfort, the baby's small limb's moving slightly. "He's not crying. Temari and Kankuro would have both cried."

The man shook his head, letting the auburn haired locks flop about for a bit, Rasa's mind telling him he was just being paranoid. Two calloused finger's reached down to tug one of the stamp's off the small infant's skin, only for Gaara's movement's to become more agitated, and a sharp sound to escape the babe's lips. "Shush, it's going to be alright."

Calloused fingers went to work putting together a warm bath in the infant sized tub, and Rasa went to work at removing the clothing before putting his youngest into the warm bath. Gaara's limbs soon began to settle down, almost as if he were falling asleep, and some of the stamps came off leaving red marks, but others Rasa needed to take a damp cloth to. A dry stinging feeling settled into the back of Rasa's throat. "Who would have thought you would be so fussy?" The auburn haired man's voice quaked, almost as if Rasa were trying to pretend things were normal, but the sickening feeling came back. "This is nothing like Temari and Kankuro."

Brushing the thoughts aside, Rasa soon dressed the infant into the warmest clothes he could find, and felt Gaara's small fingers wrap around his finger. A thud hit the auburn haired man in his chest, and his brown eyes widened realizing that he had finally touched his youngest. Gently he lifted Gaara to his shoulder, and headed over to the couch, allowing himself to rest on the couch to take a nap with the tiny infant, a feeling of relief rushing over him. Two brown eyes closed briefly, only to snap open at a familiar tug at his sleeve.

The man turned his head to find himself looking into Temari's beautiful eyes, her small hands, asking to hold Gaara. "Baby?"

A smile spread across Rasa's lips. One calloused hand reached out to ruffle his daughter's sandy locks of hairs, knowing full well his response would receive a pout from her. "Sorry, but it's daddy's turn to hold Gaara."

Another sigh escaped his lips as Rasa's eyes snapped shut, allowing himself to take a nap with Gaara.