Sand Crossed (Naruto Fanfic)

Playground Maladies

"Of course he wouldn't want to go to the playground. He doesn't have any friends, and the other kids wouldn't want to play with him," Naruto would have said had he been there, which would have been followed up with the following from Shikamaru had he been there as well.

"What a drag. You don't remember hanging out with Choji, Kiba and I?" Which in turn would lead to a blank stare from Naruto. Instead the blank stare came from Gaara, and the way his mouth twisted into a frown made it obvious something was bothering him.

Shikadai noticed, but didn't say anything, the person finally bringing it up being Kankuro. The older brother nudged his younger. "Hey, Gaara, something the matter?"

"Why would someone want to..." The fifth Kazekage paused, his sea foam green eyes narrowing in frustration. A silence fell over the room, everyone waiting for Gaara to simply spit it out. "Why would anyone want to go to a playground, if they don't have any friends?"

This comment from Gaara led to a silence from everyone, and everyone looked at the ground. No one else seemed to have anything to break the atmosphere that matched the pouring rain outside. Ebizo's voice finally broke the silence, continuing the story. "Anyways..."

...

The young auburn haired teen felt glee at the idea of Sasori squirming, rather then himself being the one who squirmed under the eye of the young child. The strange look on the auburn haired child's face however didn't seem much different then the usual look, but Rasa still knew his nephew was displeased with the results. Sasori's small hand, somehow sticky with something, managed to latch onto the fourteen year old's sleeve, the five year old's mouth pushing together in frustration.

The warm sun beat down, turning two sets of auburn hair into a warm fire, and they arrived at the playground. Rasa placed his free hand on his hip, a smile spreading across his face as his brown eyes took in the parents watching their children playing, most of them being females. "This doesn't seem so bad."

"What would you know Rasa?" Sasori's voice echoed up, the five year old showing his displeasure at being forced into the situation.

The auburn haired fourteen year old turned his head to look at the auburn haired child. "Come on. Neither one of us want to do this, but Lady Chiyo insisted. Think of it this way, we both get to suffer together." Rasa let the smile play across his lips, suddenly thinking he'd become mad, his mind wondering if he really wanted anything to do with the sickeningly sweet sight in front of him, of mother's watching their children at play. "Well, I can't say Lady Chiyo ever brought me here."

"Now what?"

The smile left the fourteen year old's face, realization hitting him that the young shinobi honestly didn't know what to do. His mouth opened slightly, attempting to think of something to say, but instead he found himself watching the children on the swings, the slide, and other play equipment. Various activities went on, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what Sasori was supposed to do. The two simply stood there, when a young four year old hurtled by him, laughing as another child chased after him. Rasa's eyes blinked a couple of times. "Isn't that Baki?"

"Who?" Sasori stared after the younger child blankly, his interest obviously somewhere else.

"You know, Baki. His father is on the council, and sometimes he waits outside for him, like you do."

The auburn haired five year old let his head tilt to the side. "There are people other then yourself waiting to?"

Rasa stared at his nephew, wondering why Sasori could be so dense. "Let me put this another way. Baki's father was friends with your father, so why don't you try asking him to play with you?"

"Do I have to?" Sasori's brown eyes looked up into his uncles, his lips pushing into a frown.

The auburn haired fourteen year old paused, wondering how he should answer the auburn haired child. "Do I really have to answer that question when you should already know the answer?"

The five year old glared up at his uncle, then began to take careful steps over to where Baki was, his small eyes narrowed in disgust, or perhaps just nonchalant lack of caring. Sasori slowly made his way closer and closer to the five year old, and Rasa thought the five year old would be successful in approaching the other child, only to have his attention pulled away when a different child crashed into the back of his legs. Whatever look was on Rasa's face at the time quickly disappeared, quickly replaced with a look of surprise, and slight irritation.

"Yashamaru! Slow down already!"

Rasa felt his throat tighten, the corner of his eye catching the sandy haired boy rush past him towards the swings to play with the other children. The auburn haired teen crossed his arms, and turned his head to look at the sandy haired girl, with her indigo colored eyes. The fourteen year old almost found himself drawn in, but instead Rasa quickly voiced his displeasure. "What are you doing here?"

The sandy haired girl looked up at him, glowering as her hands settled on her hip. "Me? I'm actually still young enough to go to the playground, so what is an old man like yourself doing here?"

A snaggy sound came out of Rasa's throat, nearly choaking him as it did. "What? Did you just call me an old man?"

The girl's eyes narrowed, letting him know she didn't like seeing him either, or that was how the auburn haired teen saw it. "You act like an old man rather then your own age. Pervert."

"Seriously!" The son of the third Kazekage felt his throat strain, wishing that Karura wouldn't say such things in front of people, and noted that the nine year old looked way to pleased, almost as if she enjoyed toying with him.

A silence fell between the two as Karura continued to glare at him, but then her eyes drifted away, and her lips twisted up into a corner. "Oh, I know. This is where you meet up with your girlfriends."

"Excuse me?" Rasa felt the heat settle into his cheeks. "If this had been Sasori, I'd be thumping him on the head right now." His eyes drifted over to see that the gaggle which tended to follow him to training stood their, giggling, likely having followed him yet again. "Great. Another thing not going my way today. I guess this is karma for thinking this was perfect punishment for Sasori, as it's punishment for myself. Then again, I did tell him we'd suffer together. Me and my big mouth."

"And now you're sizing them up, aren't you?"

The auburn haired fourteen year old flinched, turning his head to look at the sandy haired nine year old, his lips pushing together in frustration. "Why? Why do you keep insisting I am some kind of seducer of women? I've got no interest."

A smirk spread across the girl's face, and her mouth formed a circle. "Oh?"

The color drained from Rasa's face. "Why the hell does that reaction seriously creep me out, and not want to know what you're thinking?"

"I'm going to be nice, and not say anything."

The fourteen year old's ire blew the top. "Look!" His finger pointed towards where Sasori was. "I'm here because I've got something to do. And where is your supervision?"

Karura's eyes darkened, and something told the young teen that he was lucky she didn't decide to slug him then and there. "Yashamaru and I aren't exactly welcome here. That said..." Her finger pointed in the direction Rasa pointed. "You really shouldn't talk about supervision when you yourself are unable to properly provide it for that kid you're supposed to be watching."

"Wh..." The auburn haired teen twisted his head around, and his brown eyes widened in horror.