Title: Curious

By: DarkSeductress/darkemptyheart

Fandom: Naruto

Pairing: one-sided Kankuro Sakura

Summary: Sakura’s point of view on meeting Kankuro again after 2 and ½ years, and the curious paths Inner Sakura and her thoughts lead her on.

Spoilers: For Manga volumes 28 and 29

The first time Sakura Haruno saw Kankuro of the Sand, it made her very nervous. Never in her short life had she seen such a bizarre looking boy, who exuded such arrogance. The make-up made him look like a fierce demon and his chilling smirk didn’t make him look any friendlier. She knew just by looking at him, he wasn’t someone Naruto could easily defeat. Sakura and Inner Sakura both found him very creepy.

It was an opinion Sakura kept for years until she visited Suna Village on the mission to save Gaara. The second time she laid eyes on Kankuro of the Sand was startling to say the least. He was lying on a bed without make-up, disrobed, and injured. This time he made her very curious. As she neared the bed, she realized the creepy boy had turned into a not-so-bad looking man. She shook her head and slapped a muzzle on Inner Sakura; now was not the time for thoughts like that.

With that in mind, Sakura began the task of healing Kankuro. Throughout the process of removing the poison and preparing the antidote, Sakura had to the fight distraction Kankuro presented shirtless, staring at her intensely. Why the hell was he staring at her in the first place? Surely he remembered her. Hadn’t really changed that much, she wondered as she helped him sit up to drink the antidote.

She took a moment to scrutinize him and couldn’t kill the thought that he wasn’t exactly ugly; in fact he was nice looking without all the make-up. He wasn’t thin and lanky like Sasuke or fat-no-big-boned like Chouji. Kankuro was solid with barely-there muscular definition; she guessed he wasn’t chiseled because his puppets did most of the work, still he wasn’t bad. His eyes were the most unusual shade of green, almost turquoise, set off by a full body desert tan. Inner Sakura wondered if the tanned nude. Sakura quickly squashed that thought with a blush. What was getting into her? She had a mission and she was in love with Sasuke. Besides, Kankuro was supposed to be creepy anyway. Her mind was definitely going down odd paths today, she thought with a frown helping him lie back down.

Despite the weirdness of Sakura’s thoughts, she couldn’t help watching Kankuro as her team prepared to depart to follow after Gaara’s kidnappers. She listened as Naruto gave his trademark, but unbreakable word to bring Gaara back. After she playfully rolled her eyes at Naruto’s “good guy” pose, she couldn’t help meeting Kankuro’s stare. With her eyes, Sakura gave her own oath to bring his brother back regardless of the consequences. She gave him a smile filled with determination and grit; she wasn’t to be overlooked anymore. He nodded at her before closing his eyes to rest. Sakura’s smile lost its hard-edge as she gave him one last look.

Curious, she thought, why the hell is she so curious about Kankuro of the Sand? Maybe she’d have time to figure it out eventually, or maybe, just maybe, explore it; wouldn’t hurt anything, besides no man including Sasuke had ever stared at her that way before.

Author’s Note: I deeply apologize to everyone who has taken the time to read this story and wondered if I was ever going to update again. I’m sorry, but to put it simply: life got in the way and I lost my muse. I won’t bog you down with details; just know there were serious enough changes to make me forsake my writing, a thing I hold dear to my heart. To everyone who has reviewed and added this story and my other Kankuro/Sakura pieces to their Favorites, you are what kept this story in the back of my mind. You are what made try and try to write something and inspire my muse, until finally….it happened. Thank you. This part is dedicated to you.