Sand Crossed (Naruto Fanfic)

Screaming Skull

The skull stood out like a white beacon in the darkness, as the kids screamed, but the adults in the room remained unphased. Every child that was except Shikadai, who stared at the skull with a frown on his head, and Metal Lee who went into a fighting stance. Another scream joined in with the others just as Metal Lee dove for the skull, trying to kick at the head, only to find his ankle grabbed, and thrown o the side, knocking a few books off the library shelf. Boruto stood up, making to attack the skull as well, only for Shikadai finally to snap something out.

"What a drag. It's only my cousin."

"Wait? Your cousin is a skull? Your uncle's kid is a skull?" Chocho's eyes blinked a couple of times as she stared at the white skull. Kankuro let out a sound of irritation, moving about to relight the fire, but also figure out why the other lights had gone out. "How is that possible?"

"Shinki, where have you been?" Kankuro poked the material from the fire pit and managed somehow to light a small fire. "I'd better go and get more wood, and close that window." The man turned, stopping short at seeing the young, dark-haired shinobi standing they're dripping wet. "Shinki..."

The look of surprise lasted for a few seconds, and the young Suna shinobi hurried over to Shikadai, glomping the other boy around the neck. The skull remained by the door, a strange puppet. "When did you get here? Why are you here?"

"Let go. Seriously, this is a major drag."

Kankuro cleared his voice. "Shinki, you're soaking wet." The older puppet ninja turned his head to look at his brother. "Gaara..."

The auburn-haired Kazekage somehow disappeared from the room and his brother turned to see Gaara already closed down the window. "The story..."

"Can hold off until I go and get a change of clothes for your son." Kankuro paused. "No, I already missed a few parts. You stay and babysit the kids. That can't possibly be too hard for you. Certainly it can't." The puppet matter turned to leave, muttering something about Gaara not knowing how to be a proper parent.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders before returning to sit, the child which glomped Shikadai turning to now glomp the auburn-haired man, the boy's clothing dampening that of the Kazekage. A smile spread across Gaara's face, and he ruffled the boy's soaking wet hair. "So, Kankuro is upset about something?"

Ebizo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, if you've not figured that out..."

"He thinks you should lecture Shinki about coming in here soaked, and not changing his clothes." Shikadai let out a sigh.

"I knew Kankuro would do something about it." Gaara stood up, heading over to the fire with Shinki still clinging to him. The Kazekage poked at the fire, until the fire blazed alive. The auburn-haired man held his hands out.

Shinki turned to look at Shikadai. "Were you guys telling ghost stories? I like ghost stories. I like being scared because of ghost stories."

"No. Sadly Lord Ebizo is telling us a romance story."

The child clinging still to Gaara's side frowned, the color leaving his face. "Romance? Ewe..."

"The girls wanted a romance story." Boruto's tone of voice showed he was just as bothered by it, his nose wrinkling up. "That said, it's got a lot of action, and funny stuff."

"Oh..." Shinki frowned. "Exactly what story is this?"

Shikadai let out a groan. "Grandpa and grandma's story, but we don't know how much Lord Ebizo is telling us, or not telling us."

"What? I want to know more." Shinki plopped down near the books, Gaara's eyes widening.

"Shinki, careful. Don't get the books wet."

Ebizo let out a laugh, before continuing the story.

...

Karura knew she was in trouble with the old man. Her indigo eyes remained defiant as she watched the girl who had grabbed onto Sasori get off as if nothing happened, but she refused to open her mouth. The dark haired girl who had befriended her tried saying the incident wasn't her fault, only for the teacher to brush her aside. None of the other kids attempted to say anything, each looking at the girl who had dared to grab Sasori.

The dark haired girl gave her a pitying look and later came over. "Nobody wants to admit someone had the guts to touch the Kazekage's grandson."

"Isn't that..." Karura stopped short of making a comparison to Tsunade and her sensei's ability to seriously hurt other people. The sandy-girl knew she shouldn't say anything about the matter, and one of the teachers glared at her. The girl, who she didn't yet know the name of, came over and moved Sasori away. Yashamaru in the mean time let his eyes dart around nervously. The sandy-haired nine-year-old smiled at her brother. "I'll be fine."

"Grandfather, I don't think he likes us." The seven-year-old kept his voice low so that the teachers couldn't hear him.

"I know. There's not anything we can do about that. You know that he's got good reason to not like us." Karura watched her brother look away, the boy worrying his lip as he did so.

Eventually, the old man came, his dark eyes glaring at the two children. "Yashmaru, head on home. I wish to speak with your sister alone while we head home."

Karura kept step with the man, noting that the man had shinobi training in the past, but was also still active. Anger welled up about the adults leaving her in this situation, but quickly the thought was brushed off by the fact she had high doubts the adults who sent her here knew how hard the old man would be. Eventually, he pulled into an alleyway, and she wondered if she would need to defend herself, remembering Tsunade's training regarding a medical ninja's duty to protect oneself, and yet this conflicted with the duty to one's family.

The man turned to her, anger in his eyes. "I don't understand you."

"You're not even trying, not even wanting to try."

The man glared at her, not at all pleased at the situation. For a while he glared at her, hoping she would speak back to him, almost as if he hoped she would give him an excuse to hit her again. "Exactly who is your mother, this harlot who...." The man paused. "How do I even know that you're my son's children."

Karura felt her stomach twinge, she found herself glancing away, trying to keep her cool. "Say nothing. Give him nothing."

The man's anger, however, continued to rise. "You. You're a harlot just like your mother is."

The sandy-haired child wanted to say, "she isn't a harlot", but found herself interrupted by a sudden flash of red. Karura felt her indigo eyes widened upon seeing the fourteen-year-old son of the Kazekage stepping forward to punch her grandfather, her indigo eyes widening. "What? What are you doing here? Why are you? What do you think you're doing?"

Rasa turned towards her, and she saw the look in his brown eyes. The lack of control on his part felt aggravating, but so did the way he looked at her still bothered her. The auburn-haired teen opened his mouth to say something, only for Karura's grandfather to steady himself and give the fourteen-year-old a good whack on the back of the head. The young man was quick to push her against the wall, his calloused hands on her shoulders.

Glancing around the side, she watched her grandfather deliver a few more whacks on Rasa's right arm and shoulder. The man took a deep breath, only for the ANBU of Suna to show up, pulling the man away. The look on the teen's face changed from one of anger to panic, to simply looking ill, as if he had done something wrong. "Of course, you've done something wrong. What is wrong with you?"