NARUTO ONE - SHOT FOR minoushje [♥ I Love You, I Love You, Like I Do... ♥]

SOBAKU KANKUROU

"What?!" Kankurou exclaimed at Gaara, the Kazekage. Gaara looked up at him seriously through his cat - like eyes. "But you know that I don't get along with kids very well..." He began pacing nervously. "Calm down, Kankurou - kun. Don't make this difficult; it's only for a week!" You held your breath outside of the door to his office, holding your breath the whole time. "And besides, I have even found a new secretary who happens to love children, so she has agreed to go with you and teach at the academy." Kankurou looked up, his curiousity peaked. "Oh, and who is this new secretary of your's, Gaara - sama?" With that, Gaara was calling you in. "Aika, you may enter now." You exhaled slowly before turning the cold knob. "I can do this!" When you entered, Kankurou turned slowly to face you. The only thing you could do was look down at your clipboard shyly and ignore his painful gaze. The Kazekage noticed this and pointed it out. "Kankurou, is there any reason why you're staring at my secretary like that?" He didn't answer and instead kept looking at you, and out of your peripheral vision, you could see his fists balling. "Kankurou, I'll only ask once more; are the two of you previously aquainted or something?" You snapped your head up at that and blushed. "Y-Yes, Kazekage..." He began facing Gaara again. "She was and always will be..." Your heart seemed to throb in your chest as you prepared for what he was going to say next. "The love of my life."


Gaara looked from you to Kankurou and back. "I see." After stacking some papers on his desk neatly, he spoke. "I know what you're thinking, older brother. And you cannot back out." Kankurou had been biting his lip during the piercing silence. "Why the hell not?! Do you realize that this will be torture for me?!" Tears welled up in your eyes, but you were determined to keep them in. "Enough! The academy has requested that at least one highly-skille Shinobi of this village teach the children some new skills," He stood with his hands resting on his desk. "I thought you might be honored, Kankurou, to have this job for a week! You would be teaching the young ones of our village some important newthings." Even though it was evident that Kankurou didn't want to be reminded of you or your beauty, he accepted out of guilt. "Forgive me, brother." His tone lowered some. "I know that I was being selfish. We will do the best we can together, right, Aika - chan?" You smiled weakly and nodded. "There's no doubt about it."

The next morning, you were woken up by a harsh stomachache that eventually sent you to the bathroom to heave out your insides. "Great," You thought irritatedly. "This is the fourth day in a row...what the hell is wrong with me?" The answer was right in front of you, however, and you would find out soon enough. Just then, knocking echoed loudly through your apartment. Kankurou stood on the other side of your door looking frustrated. "Aika - chan, you have a habit of being late," He said through the cracks. "But you can't be late today, do you hear me?" You stumbled up from the bathroom floor and got yourself ready in a hurry. "Damn, of all the days to be late!" The whole time Kankurou shouted at your through the door angrily, but his attitude changed when you greeted him and apologized. "I'm really sorry, Kankurou, but I wasn't feeling so well just now." His eyes scanned your body thoroughly. "T-That's fine...you're just...you're kind of..." He struggled to free the words from behind his lips. "Beautiful today." For a moment, you felt the same excitement you had felt when the two of you were dating and he would compliment you. That feeling died when you remembered your current status. "W-Well then, let's go, shall we?" The sun that morning was bright and cheerful, putting you into a better mood. "Wow, it sure is a nice day." Kankurou looked at you and nodded. "Yeah, it sure is." About three quarters of the way to the academy, he spoke. "Say, Aika...?" He asked. "Hmm?" He looked down as if unsure if he should ask you what he wanted to. "Why did we break up to begin with?" Memories resurfaced in your mind of the day it all happened. "Well..."

"It's alright, Kankurou - kun..." You looked down sadly at the pregnancy test that was negative. "I'm not pregnant." His fast - paced footsteps from behind the door ceased. "R-Really? Oh, thank god!" It was to your disappointment and to his satisfaction. When you opened the door, you saw that an odd expression filled his face. "What is it, Kanky?" He said nothing. "D-Don't tell me that you--" Kankurou nodded. "I'm sorry, Aika - chan, but I just can't do this anymore. All of these pregnancy scares...I-I..." You finished for him. "You don't want me, the person you supposedly love, to bear your child. Is that so?" He shook his head frantically. "N-No! There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that I love you and that perhaps one day, yes you might bear my children but...I'm just not ready for the responsibility!" You took a step back when he reached out and tried to touch you while also snapping the test in half. "Responsibility? Sweetheart, you should've thought about that before you pushed me so eagerly onto that bed, lusting to get inside me every way you could!" The breakup had occured a mere 3 weeks ago, but it was still painful to have to see his face.

"You don't like children, remember?" You reminded him. He merely nodded. At the academy, kids swarmed around him while asking him questions and making comments that irritated him. "Kankurou - kun, why do you look like a kitty cat?" or "Kankurou - san, I thought that only girls wore makeup?" It took him some effort to hold himself together, but he did which made you proud. You let him know that when he walked you home. "You know, Kankurou, I think you handled today very well." He looked at you and smiled his usual cocky smile. "Oh really?" You nodded. "Yes. And I also think that...you have a soft spot for children." He tried to hide his grin but failed. "Err...n-no, what are you talking about? There's nothing special about them, they're just..." A bead of sweat fell from his forehead. "They're just...adorable and stuff." This made your heart sing with happiness. "But I swear, if one of them calls me a cat again, I'll--" He held up his fist to the air, causing you to laugh. "You could always make me laugh, Kanky." Some stunning realizations entered your head, stopping you dead in your tracks as well as Kankurou. He, however, had stopped for a different reason. "D-Did you just call me Kanky?" It was a pet name that you had given to him. You ignored him and stared straight ahead, still realizing many things at once all of a sudden. "You could always make me laugh, Kankurou, and you could always make me cry..." His mouth opened slightly in shock. "And you could always make me angry, and make me sometimes wonder why..."

Kankurou held you on his lap while the two of you sat under the moonlight together. You had just finished crying on his shoulder about something, but were now laughing due to him. "You could always make me laugh, did you know that?" You were at his ear and whispering. Hesmiled. "Yeah, well why don't you write a song about it or something?" Kankurou was joking, but you did just that. "Alright, here it goes," Despite his many objections, you began to rhyme. "You could always make me laugh, and you could always make me cry," He held your face in his hands. "And you could always make me angry, and make me sometimes wonder why...I love you, I love you, like I do."

"I love you, I love you...like...I...do..." Some tears were now making your face quite moist, but you didn't care since Kankurou was holding you closely now. "A-Aika, you have no idea...I feel the same...and that song that you made..." He wiped away a stray tear when he faced you now. "Makes me feel it even stronger." His face was dangerously close to your's now when he spoke. "Please...I want to be with you forever." And with that, his lips danced with your's like they never did.

--CAN YOU HANDLE IT THIS TIME?--
Since that night, Kankurou had moved in with you. Your morning sickness still continued. "Well, what is it, Aika?" He asked through the bathroom door. That day was one of the happiest that you had ever experienced. "Kankurou - kun, we're having a baby!" This time, things were different. He stopped his pacing to charge into the bathroom and embrace you warmly. "Trust me," He held you against his toned chest. "I'm man enough now that I know that our love will continue forever."

It was your 9th month of pregnancy and you were terribly uncomfortable. "Really now, Aika - chan, you should go back to doing simple desk work." Gaara said to you. For the past week, you had been delivering and gathering documents to people around town nonstop since the doctors said the walking would help ease it out of you. "Sorry, Gaara - sama, but this baby needs to be born already." You placed some files on his desk. "And besides, it's great exer--" As if merely talking about the birth would cause it, your water broke. "Something the matter, Aika?" His focus was now on papers on his desk. "N-No, nothing at all, my water just broke..." He sighed disinterested. "I see."And with that, you left his office in a hurry. When he realized what you had REALLY just said, he got up in a hurry while also calling for Kankurou. "Wait, Aika, I didn't realize--!"

A few hours later, you gave birth to a baby girl who you and Kankurou named Maiko (meaning dancing child)
YOUNGER MAIKO

As a baby, Maiko was quiet and slept a lot, to Kankurou's satisfaction.
OLDER MAIKO

When Maiko grew older, she became a highly - skilled Jounin and eventually became Kazekage.
She and her uncle, Gaara, got along quite well and he was someone she could go to for help or guidance. It was his silence that was soothing to her.